


Guidance

by jovialJuggernaut



Series: Guidance Extended Universe [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Canonical Child Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 37
Words: 258,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24483991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jovialJuggernaut/pseuds/jovialJuggernaut
Summary: The spirits can provide guidance for many things. In the Southern Water Tribe, it is traditional for those who near adulthood to ask the spirits to guide them to their soulmates, someone whose spirit completes their own.Sokka doesn't believe in any of this spirit mumbo-jumbo, but spirit mumbo-jumbo has a habit of finding him, anyway.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Guidance Extended Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931773
Comments: 1966
Kudos: 2591





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> hoo boy this is gonna be a big 'un  
> strap in fellas its gonna be a ride

It was an old legend, that the one the spirits led you to was the other half of your soul. In the old tales, there were countless couples who followed the spirits' guidance and were united with the one who would complete them. Warriors grew stronger, braver, and mothers grew mothers kinder, wiser, with the strength of their bond, with their soul completed by the other. 

In many places, these were considered only legends, but the Southern Water Tribe kept their traditions alive, requesting guidance from the spirits as each member of the tribe reached sixteen, asking to be shown the path to true peace and happiness. 

Sokka was approaching his eighth birthday, and had already decided he'd had enough spiritual mumbo jumbo to last a lifetime. 

He already had to deal with his little sister discovering her affinity for magic water, making roughhousing with her increasingly dangerous, and didn't want any spirits sending him on epic quests to find his one true love, thanks. He'd decided he would refuse outright to participate in the ceremony. Sixteen was lifetimes away, anyway, he thought. Probably as old as Gran-Gran even. 

He never even imagined the spirits would seek him out personally. 

\---

It was a bright summer night, a thick pelt draped at the entrance of the igloo to keep the rays of the low-hanging sun at bay, and Sokka was wrapped comfortably in his thick, cozy bedroll. Across the room, their mother sang Katara a familiar lullaby, stroking her hair and coaxing her into a restful sleep. 

His dream started out normally enough. He was leading an army of penguins against a ferocious arctic leopard that was threatening the village. Sokka brandished a spear, shouting bravely. The leopard looked terrified, bounding away from the mighty warrior and his honking army in fear. Feeling triumphant, he stuck his spear into the snow and stood tall. Turning to return to the village, he saw only an empty expanse of arctic tundra, his penguin army mysteriously gone. Behind him, he heard a heavy huff, some large animal approaching him from behind. Frightened that the arctic leopard had returned, he reached for his abandoned spear. 

His hand swiped through empty air. 

He turned slowly, warm courage replaced by chilly fear, to face the creature that stood behind him. He froze, staring, confused. 

It was no creature he'd ever seen before, or even had heard about in tales. It rose tall above him, and he had to tilt his head all the way back to see its head. It had eight long, thin, hooved legs. Long, golden fur drifted in the light winds. Atop its graceful head sprouted huge, sprawling antlers, meeting in the middle to form a bony halo. From the topmost points grew several soft, brilliant green leaves, the likes of which were terrifically rare here on the south pole. 

As Sokka stared, the creature turned slowly, graceful despite its many legs, and paced away from the boy. Uncertain, Sokka continued to watch it, feeling frozen in place, until it turned its horned head back to face him, huge green eyes looking directly into his own, and nodded in a gesture Sokka understood as 'follow me'. 

The young tribesman scrambled to obey, working his short legs overtime to catch up to the loping creature. 

As they walked, the land beneath them went through a rapid transformation. After the snow came the sea, then golden beaches, then lush trees, and finally, the bare, rocky earth surrounding a volcano. The creature looked back at him, huffing and puffing at the difficulty of keeping up with its long strides, and the scene changed one last time. 

Walls appeared around him, dark and foreboding, draped with tapestries of reds and golds. In the center of the room sat an absolutely enormous bed. Clutching the thin, shiny sheets to himself, huddled near the headboard of a bed far too big for him, cowered a boy roughly Sokka's own age, with hair dark as the pitch used for the fishing boats, and eyes golden as a warm sunrise. 

"Who are you?! How did you get in here?! Guards! Guards!" The boy suddenly began shouting. 

Sokka, panicked, waved his hands furiously. "Wait, wait! Don't yell!" 

"Why shouldn't I? You suddenly show up out of nowhere and expect me to trust you?" 

The boy had a point, Sokka realized. He'd have to actually explain. Unfortunately, he didn't really know what was happening himself. "A big deer thing brought me here!" He tried to explain.

"A deer? That doesn't make any sense! Guards!" The boy yelled again. He seemed frustrated when no one answered his call. "Ugh. Did Azula put you up to this? Is that why the guards are ignoring me?" 

Sokka frowned, crossing his arms. "I don't know who that is!"

"Oh." The boy's shoulders fell from their tense position, relaxing as he realized Sokka wasn't doing anything bad. "Azula is my little sister. She likes to pull really mean pranks on me." The boy explained. 

Sokka brightened. "I have a little sister, too! Her name is Katara. We pull pranks on each other all the time! Well..." Sokka frowned again, remembering Katara's new skill. "Since she learned to play with magic water, it's mostly just been me getting buried in the snow." 

"The snow?" The boy titled his head, confused. "I've never seen snow before. It's cold, right? Is that why you're dressed like that?" 

Sokka looked down at himself, still wearing his warm coat. He nodded. 

"Oh." The boy said again. His eyebrows scrunched up. "Aren't you hot now, though? It's too warm for those kinds of clothes tonight." 

A swift shake of his head sent Sokka's wolftail swinging back and forth. "I don't feel hot at all! I think this is a dream." 

"A dream? Why would I be dreaming about you? I've never seen anyone like you before." 

"No, no, it's my dream! I'm the one dreaming about you!"

"What? That doesn't make any sense. How could you be dreaming me? I'm a real person!" 

Sokka crossed his arms and huffed. "If you're a real person, what's your name?" 

"Zuko." 

"See!" Sokka stomped. "That's not a real person's name! That sounds made up!" 

"Oh, yeah? Well then, what's your name?" 

"I'm Sokka!"

The boy huffed, slamming his fists down on his shiny red blanket. "Your name is the one that sounds fake! No one is named 'Sock-a'!"

The two boys glared at one another, both pouting stubbornly. Suddenly, the walls began to fade around them. 

"Wait!" Sokka shouted in a panic. "I don't wanna go yet! I wanna talk to my new friend!" 

"Where are you going?" The boy's- no- Zuko's voice already sounded further away. "Sokka! Where are you going?!" 

And then he was gone. Sokka stood before the huge creature that had shown him here once more, the huge bedroom long gone. 

"I wasn't ready yet! I wanna go back!" He pleaded with it. 

The creature did not reply. It turned slowly, gracefully, and began to lead the way. Sokka, stubborn, did not follow it, but as it grew further and further away, he realized that he didn't know how to get home. Scrambling, he dashed after it. 

The land shifted beneath them again, in the opposite direction. Sokka was relieved to feel snow beneath his boots once more, knowing home was just around the corner. He grinned up at the enormous creature. It watched him solemnly, green eyes staring. 

"Thanks for everything! What's your name?" He asked. The creature merely continued walking, fading from view. "Aww..." Pouting down at the snow, he barely felt someone shake his shoulder. A second, more firm shake got his attention. He swung his head around, seeing no one nearby. 

"Sokka! Wake up!" His mother's voice called. 

"Mom?" He responded, confused. 

"Yes, Sokka. It's time to wake up." 

"I don't wanna..." Sokka suddenly felt tired, like all he wanted to do was curl up in the nearest snowdrift and fall asleep. 

"You do if you want breakfast. Come on, let's get moving. Up, up!" 

Sokka opened his eyes, eyebrows scrunched tight, to see sunlight streaming into the igloo, the pelt over the entrance pulled back. His mother hovered nearby, gently shaking him by the shoulder. She laughed. 

"I knew that would work! Get up, Sokka, before the food gets cold!" 

Sokka scrambled to obey. The igloo was full of the smells of breakfast, and already his stomach gave an excited grumble. Katara was rubbing her eyes, holding a bowl, and yawned widely in the middle of trying to say 'good morning' to him. 

There was someone missing. "Where's dad?" Sokka asked, looking around for clues. 

"He went fishing early this morning. He'll be back soon." Their mother assured him. Sokka nodded, accepting the explanation, and filled a bowl for himself. 

By the end of the meal, he'd nearly forgotten about the dream. 

It was Katara who reminded him. She began to chatter about her own dream, their mother listening intently as she recounted the fantastical events. Sokka began to tune her out when he realized it was all about waterbending. She talked excitedly about controlling the oceans, moving glaciers, and building palaces out of snow. 

"Do you think I could really do all that, Mom?" Katara asked. 

"Maybe someday, Katara. I'm sure you'll be so good at it someday. You're very smart and talented, after all." 

Katara beamed. Sokka frowned, a dark feeling stirring in his heart that he couldn't put a name to. 

"I had a weird dream, too." He piped up. 

"Oh, really?" 

"Yeah!" 

"Well, tell us about it!" Their mother prompted. Sokka was happy to oblige. 

"It all started out with me being super brave and protecting the town from this big ol' arctic leopard..." 

Sokka spun his tale, using the full length of his arms to gesture. He described the creature he saw, and how, strangely, he knew it wanted him to follow it. 

"Oh, Sokka!" His mother looked surprised. "That was a spirit, Sokka. What did it show you?"

Sokka scrunched up his nose. He was much less excited about his dream knowing it was _spirit mumbo jumbo_ , but he didn't let it stop him. 

He told her about the land changing, like it was showing him a place really far away. He told her about the huge bedroom, and the boy he met. 

His excitement grew again, telling her about his new friend. He was a little confused about how she looked worried, instead of excited, but kept going anyway. It wasn't until he mentioned the boy's pretty golden eyes, bright like the sun, and she looked downright terrified, that he stopped telling the story. 

His mother cleared her throat. "Was that- was that it? Did you wake up after that?" 

Sokka nodded. He didn't think it was a bad dream, but his mom looked so scared... 

"My dream was way more exciting!" Katara pouted. Sokka hunched his shoulders. 

"Yeah... I guess it was." 

Sokka didn't tell their father about the dream when he came home.

\---

The next morning, Katara was kicking up a fuss. 

"I wanna meet my soulmate, too!" She pouted. 

"You're too young, Katara." Their mother tried to explain. "You'll get to meet them when you're older, sweetheart, I swear it."

"But Sokka got to meet his!" Katara argued. "And he's not that much bigger than me!" 

Sokka scrunched his nose in confusion. "No, I didn't! I don't even believe in that stuff!" 

"I heard Mom telling Dad that you did! She said that boy you met was your soulmate! And it's not fair!" 

"That doesn't even make sense! Why would my soulmate be a boy?" Sokka huffed, crossing his arms. "My soulmate's supposed to be my future wife, right? My wife can't be a boy!" 

"Well..." Their mother began. Both children stopped bickering long enough to listen. "Your soulmate is someone who will make you very, very happy, who will complete you in a way no one else can. Whether that person is a girl or a boy makes no difference to the spirits, Sokka."

"Oh." Sokka tilted his head, considering this new information. "So, my soulmate can be a boy?" 

"That's right." 

"And Katara's could be a girl?" 

"No!" Katara shouted. "My soulmate's gonna be the strongest warrior of all time, like in the stories!" 

"Katara's soulmate could be a girl, yes." Their mother cut in, stroking Katara's thick hair to calm her. "And we'll all find out together _when she's older._ "

"But mooooom!" Katara whined. 

Sokka watched his sister argue with his mother, thinking hard about what he'd learned. There was still something he didn't understand. "Why do you think he's my soulmate? It was just a dream, right? Don't you have to do some sort of... ritual stuff? To ask the spirits for guidance? That's what the stories always say, right?" 

Katara stopped whining, blue eyes wide, also curious for the answer. Their mother was quiet for a long moment, thinking over her words carefully. 

"Sometimes, the spirits have very important things to show us. The ritual that we do makes it easier for us to ask for their guidance, but sometimes they... offer it freely, instead. Does that make sense?" 

Sokka nodded. Spirit stuff never made sense to him, but his mother was very good at explaining things to him. 

"What you told me about your dream was just like what I saw when the spirits introduced me to your father, and the same as what other members of our tribe have seen when they receive guidance, as well. It's not always the same spirit, but the journey is the same. For you to talk to someone you've never met in your dreams... that means the spirits wanted you to meet him. He wasn't just a part of your dream. He's a real person that lives... somewhere far, far away." 

Sokka pouted, kicking at the floor. Why did weird magic stuff always find him? 

Katara was getting grumpy again. "It's not fair! It's not! Sokka didn't have to wait until he's all big! I'm just as big as him! It's not fair! I wanna meet the big deer spirit and see my soulmate, too! I wanna, I wanna, I wanna!" She whined. 

Their mother sighed. "It's very dangerous, Katara. The herbs they use to put you to sleep so you can meet the spirits are made for big bodies. You could get hurt, sweetheart." 

"I don't care! I'm strong!" Katara lifted her arms like she was showing muscles, even though she was wrapped snugly in a thick coat. "I can even waterbend! Nothing can hurt me!" 

Their mother laughed, scooping the girl into her arms and swinging her around. "You are very strong, Katara! Tell you what, I'll ask the elders and see what they say."

"Yay!" Katara cheered. "I get to meet my soulmate!" 

"But remember," Their mother said, sternly. "If they say no, you have to respect that. Okay? What the elders say goes, even if you don't like it. You have to respect them."

"Okay..." Katara pouted, deflating. Their mother smiled, softly. 

"I'm sure they won't say no to a strong little girl like you, though. My brave little Katara." 

\---

The elders did say no, however. Katara whined and pouted, shouting that she was big enough, strong enough, that anything her brother could do, she could, too. Their mother scolded her, reminding her that she'd promised to respect the elders' decision. Gran-Gran frowned, pity in her eyes, and told their mother she would try to get them to reconsider, disappearing back into the tent. 

Katara had stopped yelling and started sobbing while their grandmother was gone. Sokka stood by uncomfortably, knowing he'd started all of this, even on accident. He might like to mess with her, but he still hated to see Katara cry. 

Finally, Gran-Gran returned, flanked by another of the elders, She smiled gently at Katara as the old man explained that they'd reconsidered, and would prepare the guidance ritual right away. He explained to their mother that they would be using as little of the herbs as they could, taking into account the girl's small body, and that the ritual may still be dangerous or may not work at all. He asked if she was sure, and their mother nodded her head.

"I trust your wisdom and expertise. I know you'll keep my daughter safe." 

\---

They took some time to prepare, and it was several tense days before they came to tell the family the ritual was ready. Their mother squeezed their father's hand tightly, seeking reassurance, before scooping Katara up. 

"Sokka, you stay here with your father."

"Aww, I wanted to come see..." He pouted. 

His mother smiled, but he could see worry still in her eyes. "Don't worry, we'll tell you everything when it's done. Have patience, okay?" 

Sokka nodded. His mother crouched down to plant a reassuring kiss on his forehead. 

"We'll be back soon." 

And then they were gone. 

Sokka waited restlessly, carving fish hooks with a small knife. They were terrible, his knife unsteady with worry, His father came over, seeing him nick a finger again, and placed a steadying hand on his shoulder. 

"Come on, son. Let's leave the hooks for now, okay?"

"Okay..." 

He let his father take away the mangled hooks and bloodied knife. He carefully bandaged the small cuts now littering the boy's small hands, one after another, and Sokka felt the shaking in them subside. All finished, his father firmly patted him on the shoulder, smiling warmly. 

"How's that? All better?" 

Sokka nodded, paused, then shook his head. "I'm still worried about Katara... they said it might be dangerous. I'm her big brother, I'm supposed to protect her. I can't do that if they won't let me go." 

His father grinned. "Well, they wouldn't let me go, either. Guess we're both a couple of useless lumps, huh?" 

Sokka laughed with him. His father's smile turned sad. 

"This isn't the kind of danger we can fight off with clubs or boomerangs, Sokka. Sometimes, people need protecting of another kind. This is a good opportunity to learn a different kind of strength." He explained. 

Sokka scrunched his eyebrows together, not quite understanding. "A different kind of strength? What does that mean?" 

His father gripped his shoulder with a strong hand, putting comfortable pressure on it. "Sometimes, patience can protect people, from all the chaos in the world. Sometimes, understanding can protect people, from their own fear and doubt. Sometimes, compassion can protect people, from all the meanness and ugliness that's out there." 

Meanness and ugliness, huh? "Like the Fire Nation?" Sokka asked. 

His father winced. Sokka didn't know why. "Yeah, Sokka. Like the Fire Nation."

Sokka grinned. "But I can fight the Fire Nation just fine with clubs and boomerangs, right?! I'm gonna beat them up so good!" 

His father laughed, a bit strained. "Someday, sure. But until then, you can use other kinds of strength to help people who need it. Your sister will need your strength when she gets back, I'm sure." 

As though summoned by his words, their mother burst through the entrance at that moment, clutching a shivering Katara in her arms. 

"Kya? What happened?" Their father rushed over, taking Katara from their mother. Sokka caught a glimpse of her face, eyes closed, lips blue, shivering hard, before she was tucked gently into their father's embrace. 

Sokka was reminded grimly of another child from their village, who had looked just like that when he was rescued from falling through the ice into the freezing water below. Sokka tried not to think about the funeral they'd had to hold for him. 

"Something awful happened during the ritual… oh, Hakoda, I knew i shouldn't have let her do it! This is all my fault!" 

Their father pulled her into his embrace as well, Katara wrapped snugly between the two of them. "No, shh, shh, Kya. It's not your fault. You couldn't have known this would happen. You know Katara, she's stubborn. Just like her dad, huh?" He grinned, the expression obviously strained. 

Sokka hunched in on himself. If it was anyone's fault, it was his. He was the one who got Katara hung up on the idea of meeting her soulmate, after all. Telling them about it had only hurt them. 

And now, his sister was suffering because of him.

Their mother was sobbing into their father's shoulder now, petting desperately at Katara's hair. The small girl still shivered violently, and they took some small solace in the clear evidence that she clung to life. 

"Kya, take a deep breath. What can we do to help her?" Their father said, his tone steady. 

Their mother took several shaky breaths, still too fast, but the panic began to melt from her eyes. 

"They said she just needs to be warmed up, like she has hypothermia. They said it didn't seem to be the effects of the herbs, just some unnatural coldness."

Their father nodded. "Then let's stoke the fire some, get it warmer in here, and then we'll all share our body heat with her. Okay?" 

A few more shaky breaths, followed by a sharp nod. "Yes… yes."

"Sokka?" The boy snapped to attention at his father's voice. "Go grab the kettle and put it on the fire. We'll need to make her drink some warm tea when she wakes up."

Sokka nodded furiously, following instructions. As he finished his task, he joined his parents on the pile of furs and blankets their father had gathered, helping to wrap Katara up in as much heat as possible. He held back his own tears, wanting to be as strong as his dad was being. _Strong in a different way…_

\---

It took a long time for Katara to wake up. The kettle whistled, Sokka followed instructions to make the hot water into tea, and the tea had time to cool from boiling hot to drinkably warm before she stirred. 

"Mom? Dad?" Her small, confused voice shattered the tense silence. 

Three sighs of relief rang out in unison, the whole family rushing to check on her condition.

Katara coughed and shivered a little, far more gently now. Sokka helped her drink the warm tea. 

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Their mother asked, voice soft, brushing hair from her daughter's face. 

"M'cold…" Katara complained, voice weak and grainy. 

"I know, honey, I know. We're trying to fix that. Drink your tea, okay? It'll help."

Katara complied quietly, obedient in her exhaustion. She finished the cup, letting Sokka pour her another, before she spoke again. 

"What happened? Did I get to meet my soulmate?"

Their mother looked troubled. "We tried, sweetheart, we tried. You went to sleep and began your journey, but you were suddenly so cold… what do you remember from your dream?"

Katara frowned, thinking hard. "I remember… I was out on the ice, and a big animal, like… like a buffalo? It led me out into the water. I followed it out for a while but then… it was really, really cold and really, really dark and I got really, really scared and-" Tears began to well up and spill over, Katara suddenly overwhelmed by the memory. Two sets of hands rubbed calming circles on her back and arms, as both their parents rushed to comfort her. 

"Oh, honey… We were so scared, so worried for you. But you're safe now, okay? Safe and warm back home."

Katara sniffled, sobs subsiding. "I still didn't get to meet him… it's not fair…" 

Their mother hid an amused smile. All of this and Katara could still only think about her potential soulmate… stubborn girl. "Don't worry, you will. Someday. The spirits just weren't ready to show you yet, Katara. They will, though, they will. But later." 

Katara wiped her eyes, still frowning, but didn't argue. "Okay." She said, pout obvious in her voice. 

"Okay." Their mother scooped her into a tight hug, then returned them to their comfortable lying position under the blankets, Sokka and their father joining them quickly. "Let's get some more rest, Katara. I'm sure you're very tired still."

The girl yawned widely. "No, I'm not… I wanna go play…" She mumbled, sleep slurring her words already. 

Their parents shared a fond smile, letting her heavy eyelids do the convincing for them. 

The family, warm, safe, and reassured, relaxed into the comforting embrace of one another.

\---

The giant deer creature was waiting for Sokka in his dream. 

He stomped a foot. "Hey! Your friend hurt my sister! What's the deal?!" He shouted up at it. 

Silent, as always, it turned to lead him away. He hesitated, for a moment, afraid he might end up frozen like Katara, but followed anyway. 

As before, the spirit led him to the enormous bedroom, Zuko tucked into the fancy, sprawling sheets. 

Sokka tiptoed over, peeking at Zuko's sleeping face. As he approached, the other boy's eyebrows scrunched up and he huffed. 

"I know you're there." He said, not opening his eyes. 

Sokka retreated. "Hi." He said simply. 

Zuko grumbled, tossing his blanket aside and sitting on the edge of the bed. He patted the mattress next to him, showing Sokka where to sit. 

"You're back." He said as Sokka settled in beside him. 

"Yep." 

"The deer thing again?" 

"It's a spirit, not a deer!" Sokka argued. "...I think." He appended in a more subdued tone.

"Deer spirit thing, then." Zuko huffed a small laugh. Sokka couldn't help but giggle with him. Zuko tilted his head curiously. "Why does it bring you here, though?" 

Sokka picked at his nails, kicking his dangling feet. "Mom said it was a soulmate thing. That spirits show you to people that are supposed to make you happy." 

Zuko flushed a little, turning his face away. "Aren't boys' soulmates supposed to be girls, though?" He squeaked out. 

"That's what I said!" Sokka threw his hands up dramatically, flopping back on Zuko's enormous bed. "Besides, how is meeting you supposed to make me happy when only bad stuff has happened since then?!"

Zuko looked a little guilty. "What kind of bad stuff?" 

Sokka frowned, regretting the way he said it. He didn't mean to make it sound like he was blaming Zuko. 

He sat back up. "When I told my mom about my dream, she looked really happy until I told her about you. She looked at me all scared the rest of the day." He lifted his knees up, hugging them tightly. "She said it's normal for boys to have boy soulmates sometimes, but I don't think she meant it. She looked extra upset when I told her how pretty your eyes are."

Zuko flushed bright red, blending into his room's decor. "You said my eyes are pretty?!" 

Sokka tilted his head. "Yeah. They're really pretty. I've never seen gold eyes before." He admitted, wondering what the big deal was. Zuko couldn't meet his eyes now. 

"...Thanks, I guess? I've never seen blue eyes, either." He cleared his throat, hesitating. "Your… your eyes are pretty, too." 

Sokka scrunched his eyebrows up. As far as he was concerned, his eyes were just normal. 

"What else happened?"

"What?" The sudden change in topic took Sokka by surprise.

"You said lots of bad stuff happened after you met me. What else happened?"

"Oh." Sokka squeezed his fists shut, hesitating. "My sister, Katara, I told you about?" Zuko nodded. "She was really jealous I got to meet you. She wanted to meet her soulmate, too, even though I told her you weren't my soulmate or anything. She made the elders do the guidance ritual for her, even though she's too little."

"Guidance ritual?" Zuko cut in. 

"Yeah, where the elders make you sleep and get the spirits to show you your soulmate?" 

Zuko still looked confused. 

"Do you… not do that? Where you're from?" Sokka realized he didn't actually know where he was, where the boy lived. He must be some kind of fancy noble, right? They didn't have those on the south pole.

Zuko shook his head in response. "We don't really… talk about soulmate stuff here. I only know what my mom told me. Does everyone get to meet their soulmate, then?"

Sokka nodded. "If you want to. When you get big. I wasn't gonna, but then… I didn't really get a choice."

"Oh." The other boy looked like he was mulling the new information over. "So, did she get to meet her soulmate, then?"

Sokka shook his head. "She got super cold suddenly, like she was frozen. Nobody knew what was happening."

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah. We know how to help people who are frozen. It happens a lot when you live on lots of ice." 

"That's… that's good then. I'm glad your sister's okay."

"Me too."

Both boys got quiet, lost in thought. 

"Did you tell your family? About me?" Sokka finally asked after a long pause. 

Zuko shook his head. "I don't want Dad or Azula finding out. I know something really bad would happen if I did." He curled in on himself, looking defeated. Sokka was desperately curious about Zuko's words, but knowing better than to ask a lot of questions when someone looked so sad. He went back to kicking his feet. 

\---

He was still thinking about his conversation with Zuko when he woke up the next day. 

Katara was up and about, running around happily like she hadn't nearly died the day before. The only sign that yesterday wasn't a dream was Katara's unusual clumsiness, like her feet weren't where she wanted them to be. She tripped yet again, nearly falling face-first to the ground, but their father neatly scooped her up, laughing off the accident easily. 

Sokka wondered what kind of dad a kid would be so scared of. 

\---

The spirit didn't come again for a long time. 

At first, Sokka missed the boy, having no friends his own age (besides his sister, but sisters don't count). But over time, a young mind finds many things sliding away, and Sokka nearly forgot all about the strange boy with the big bedroom in a foreign land. 

Katara, likewise, had allowed all the soulmate business to slip her mind, moving on to more important things, like penguin sledding. 

The day everything changed started out so normal. He and Katara played in the snow, carefree as ever, not knowing what was coming. 

When the snow started to fall, black with soot, and the warriors prepared for battle, he wasn't ready for it. He and Katara split off, her going in search of their mother, him joining the older warriors, armed with a boomerang too big for his small arms. 

He tripped and stumbled in the snow, short legs working hard to catch up with the speed of the adults. The warriors were already clashing with armored soldiers when he managed to make it. He aimed his boomerang carefully, its weight still awkward to him, despite his father's patient lessons, and let it fly. It flopped uselessly into the snow and he pouted in disappointment. 

One of the warriors tossed a soldier in his direction, the armored man crashing into the packed-snow wall below. Eager to help the warriors, Sokka bundled up the biggest snowball he could and smashed it onto the soldier's exposed back. The warrior swung to glare at him, scrambling to his feet, but lost his stance as he realized his opponent was nine years old. 

Sokka likewise lost his gumption, looking at the man's eyes. He was suddenly, sharply reminded of the only other person he'd ever seen with eyes the same golden color. 

The soldier broke eye contact with him, returning to fight the adults, and Sokka realized he'd lost the opportunity for a surprise attack. He bundled up another snowball, selecting a new target, but the ball fell out of his hand without finding one. 

Beneath the red and black helmets, it was hard to see what colors their eyes were. That gold, though, now that he was looking for it, shone from several soldiers' angry faces. One, two, three… not many of them, but he'd never seen anybody before that had shared _his_ eye color.

Feeling a deep cold settle into his gut, Sokka realized why his mother had looked so scared when he'd told her about _him._

He felt sick. 

The soldiers suddenly turned tail, retreating into their ships. Sokka couldn't find it in himself to be excited, or even relieved. Several of the warriors lay, wounded, hurriedly patching themselves and each other up as best they could, watching the ships depart suspiciously. 

Sokka's father rushed over to him from the thick of the battlefield, blood seeping into the sleeves of his coat. 

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" He asked, checking the boy over for injuries. Sokka allowed it, limply. His heart felt strangely empty, his stomach still twisty and cold.

"M'fine…"

"Where's your sister? Where's Katara?"

"She went to find Mom…" Sokka mumbled. His father rushed off, heading straight for their igloo. 

Sokka stumbled back to camp, slowly, the big day already exhausting him. He wanted his mother to wrap him up in a big hug, tell him everything was fine, just like she always did. 

At their home, Katara stood outside the entrance, shoulders shaking, cheeks streaked with tears. Snapped out of his funk, Sokka rushed to comfort her. Little sister tears always took priority. 

She turned and sobbed into his chest, crying random words that may have been intended to be an explanation, but didn't really make any sense. He began to walk into the igloo, hoping to ask their mother what had happened.

He was stopped in his tracks by a raw, agonized wail. 

The voice was unfamiliar, at first, but the realization dawned on him that it could only be their father, crying out in grief.

In grief? 

Dread gnawed at Sokka's gut. He hoped he was wrong.

The universe was never so kind.

\---

That night, held tightly alongside Katara in their father's strong arms, all three exhausted by their despair, the spirit showed itself to him again, for the first time in over a year. 

He nearly followed after it out of habit, before he remembered where- no- to whom it would lead him. 

He dug his feet in the snow. 

"I don't want to! I'm not going!"

The spirit stopped, slowly turning its majestic head back toward him. Sokka folded his arms, huffing. 

"Those people did this! Took her from us! And he's one of them!" He couldn't quite bring himself to say it, even here, in a dream, to a spirit. 

The spirit nodded, once, great horns dipping and rising slowly, deliberately. Sokka felt like his throat was closing up, tears threatening to spill over again. 

He'd guessed, but for the spirit to confirm it… it felt like he'd lost two important people tonight. The betrayal of the boy was nothing compared to having his mother ripped from him, from them, so cruelly, but the second blow was way too strong to take all at once. 

The spirit faded as he sobbed, kneeling in the snow. 

\---

By day, the family worked hard to get what needed to be done, done, without the steady hands and expertise of their mother, with the added burden of the gaping hole in their hearts her absence left. Sokka felt numb, detached, working dutifully if clumsily, as hard as he could. 

By night, the spirit continued to insert itself into his dreams.

He supposed it was lucky, in a way, that he dreamed only of the spirit. Katara awoke with nightmares every night, howling awake. She'd been there, apparently, just before the soldiers had… 

It left a deep wound in her heart, too young to process her flooding emotions. When they were lucky, she'd cry herself back to sleep eventually. When they were unlucky, she would stay up sobbing for hours, then would be tired and cranky and lashing out with massive tantrums and meltdowns during the day. 

On the other hand, the spirit's constant presence continued to open a secondary wound. He couldn't see the revelation of the other boy's nation as anything but a betrayal. He'd talked so easily with the boy, worried about him during the day. He hated to think that he'd invested any emotions but hate and anger into… one of _them._

The spirit was persistent, though, waiting patiently to guide them to one another again, the divide between their nations be damned. Sokka wore down, his natural curiosity eventually winning out over his anger. The spirit led him to their destination more quickly than normal, impatient. Or, perhaps, worried that Sokka would change his mind and turn back. Either way, it was with a disorienting jolt that he found himself in a familiar yawning bedroom with a familiar golden-eyed boy. 

"You!" The boy gasped, sliding out of bed. "I started to think I made you up!"

"Stay back!" Sokka warned him. "Ash maker!" The insult felt foreign on his tongue, trying it out for the first time. The other boy seemed confused, drawing into himself, but stayed back as instructed.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Zuko asked, wide-eyed. 

Sokka chewed his lip. "Are you… are you really Fire Nation?" He nearly mumbled. Zuko heard him anyway. 

"Yes, I am. You're… you're from a Water Tribe, right?" 

Sokka nodded, too upset to form words. 

"Mom said those were the only people that lived on the ice, so I guessed… Dad called you 'savages'." 

His rage boiled over. "Savages?! The Fire Nation are the ones attacking people for no reason, destroying stuff, killing- killing moms!" His voice cracked, choking on a sob. Zuko's eyes went wide with worry. He nearly rushed over before recalling the other boy's earlier demand.

"I'm sorry…" He muttered instead. Sokka cried openly. Awkwardly, he sat on the edge of his bed, patting it to coax Sokka over. Surprisingly, the boy did, climbing onto the soft mattress and burying his face into an incredibly plush pillow. Zuko reached a hand out to touch his shoulder, or back, or _something_ , but he was no good with feelings or comfort. He hunched in on himself, instead. 

"I can't imagine what it's like… If my mom wasn't here, I'd be left with Dad and Azula. It'd be horrible…" Zuko chewed his lip, trying to figure out what to say. Sokka's sobs had grown softer already, boosting his confidence. "You have your Dad and sister there, right?" 

The little ponytail swung with the nod, Sokka's face still in the pillow. 

"I bet they're really sad, too. My uncle has this thing that he always says at funerals…" Zuko scrunched his nose up, trying to remember. His uncle was so hard to understand, sometimes. 

"'A burden shared is a burden… made smaller'? No, it was… 'Pain that's shared is lighter'? No, it'd make more sense for the burdens to be lighter…"

A muffled giggle drifted from the pillows. Zuko pouted.

"Hey, I'm really trying here!"

A loud sniffle, then Sokka's head lifted again. "I think I get what you're trying to say."

"Oh. You do?"

"Yeah. It means that even though it really hurts, and even though I feel really lonely, I'm not all alone. My family might be hurting, too, but if we all help each other out, it won't feel so bad."

"That sounds really smart." Zuko flushed with embarrassment. 

Sokka grinned. "My Gran-Gran says stuff like that sometimes, too. She makes us explain it back to her to make sure we understood."

Zuko gave him a small, soft smile, relieved to see him stop crying. 

"Thanks." Sokka said, hiding his embarrassment into the wet pillow. 

"For what?" 

"For the good advice."

Zuko looked genuinely confused. "But I didn't do anything?" 

"Still helped." Sokka peeked one eye over at him, still hiding most of his face in plush fabric. "Y'know, the spirit's been trying to get me to come here since it happened. I was too scared to come."

"Why?"

"Because you're Fire Nation, and they're the bad guys." Zuko frowned at that. "And I was worried I'd come visit and you'd be, I dunno, evil or something." He turned to fully face the other boy. "But you're still really nice. So, I'm glad I ended up coming, after all."

Zuko smiled with him. 

"Hey, can you firebend?" Sokka asked suddenly.

"Huh? Why? Where'd that come from?"

"Can you?"

"Yeah, of course I can!"

"Can I see?" 

Zuko was as shocked by the sudden change in topic as he was by Sokka's apparent enthusiasm. "Uh, sure." 

Zuko slid off of the bed once again, taking up a stance in the large open space between his bed and the door. Sokka sat up properly, getting into a comfortable place where he could see well. 

The firebender took a deep breath, then another, then worried that he couldn't feel his inner fire. Not wanting to disappoint his friend, so eager to see him perform, Zuko continued anyway. 

The stances of the kata came stutteringly, as usual, lacking the grace and smoothness they should have had. Two punches in with no fire and Zuko was panicked.

"No, no, it's supposed to…" He tried starting over, performing the kata more slowly, but more neatly. Still, his fire remained out of reach. "I can't- I can't-" He pulled at his hair, breath coming quick in his chest. 

Sokka's expression slid from disappointed into worried, scrambling towards his friend. 

Zuko had sunk into a crouch now, face buried in his knees as both hands gripped his hair. His lungs heaved hugely, visible even from the bed. 

"Hey, it's alright, you can show me some other time!" Sokka placated.

"I'm sorry- I tried, I'm- I can do it! I swear!" Tears had begun to streak, one by one, down Zuko's terrified face.

"It's okay! I believe you! Calm down, it's alright!" Sokka tried. He reached out, a comforting hand, but Zuko flinched before it could touch him.

"Don't hurt me, please! I'll get it right, Dad, just don't-" 

The dream ended suddenly, Sokka shooting awake in bed. A now-familiar rage began to bubble up in his chest again. 

This time, though, it had a new target. 

Startled awake by the sudden movement, his own father groaned. "Sokka? What's wrong? Bad dream?"

Sokka threw his arms around his dad's neck, holding him tightly. He never thought he'd feel so happy to have a father he wasn't terrified of, but Zuko's face was so clear in his memory still. 

"Thanks for everything, Dad." Sokka said into his shoulder. His father relaxed, huffing a short laugh.

"Where's this come from?" He asked.

"I just… I realized I'm really lucky to have a dad like you. I love you lots."

"Well, I love you, too, Sokka. Even if I still don't know why you're suddenly saying this now. What did you dream about?"

Sokka shook his head, leaving the question unanswered. His father didn't push. 

"How's Katara? Did she sleep good last night?" 

"She had some bad dreams, too, but she slept all night."

"I'm gonna make some tea, then. So she has some when she wakes up, in case she's still upset." Sokka slid out of his father's embrace, pacing over to the where he'd left the kettle.

"Look at you, being all responsible. I'm really proud of you, son."

Sokka glowed with pride, hiding his smile as he got to work. 

He could be strong, as strong as he needed to be. For his dad, for Katara, for Gran-Gran, and for a scared Fire Nation boy a million miles away. They needed him, even without any special magic powers. 

He set his pain aside, just for them. 

\---

The aching void where their mother should be never quite closed up, but it became smaller, less tender. 

Their lives readjusted. Katara took up a lot of the chores, having learned many of the skills she needed already, and Sokka, now without a playmate, started to spend far more time with their father. He learned to hunt, fish, and fight with his father, preparing for whatever may lie ahead.

Their Gran-Gran started to spend more time with the family, as well, taking leave of her duties as village elder to help Katara with keeping the household. Just as Sokka trained to be a hunter and warrior, Katara learned to be a mother. 

They were both far too young, but time is a cruel thing.

Sokka continued to visit Zuko in his dreams, sometimes every night, sometimes not for months at a time. He could never predict when the spirit would decide it was time. Between the more spaced-out visits, he would miss the other boy dearly, thinking constantly of things he wanted to tell him. The boys carried so much weight, and it brought Sokka no shortage of joy to see Zuko's burdens lift from his small shoulders by the end of the night. 

They told each other about their families, about their homelands, about whatever they could think of at the time. They sometimes argued, usually about the war, but they always made up again quickly enough. Sokka discovered that the Fire Nation's stories about events of the war and everyone else's didn't always match up. They both began to question truths they held close, Zuko about the righteousness of the Fire Nation's brutal campaign, Sokka about the inherent evilness of Fire Nation citizens. 

Some nights, the arguments made his head hurt. 

He still refused to tell anyone about the other boy, always claiming he'd had some sort of bad dream when he woke up still fuming from a spat with the other. If anyone was suspicious, they never said anything, but paranoia is a natural side effect of secrets, and Sokka was always on edge, thinking everyone knew about his traitorous friendship with the Fire Nation boy. 

Because that's what it was, he knew. Traitorous. To be so friendly with the enemy, an enemy he was becoming increasingly sympathetic to. 

Unfortunately, every time he nearly resolved to push the other boy away, he remembered how small and vulnerable and _scared_ Zuko often was, and couldn't find the strength to follow through. 

\---

It was about a week after Zuko had told Sokka his birthday was (eleven! Sokka didn't know Zuko was older than him!) and Sokka was overjoyed to see the spirit waiting for him in his dream. He couldn't bring Zuko any presents, since they met in the spirit world, after all, but he'd been writing the other boy a poem as a present instead. 

He rushed forward when the room materialized around him, grinning ear to ear, but was halted in his tracks by Zuko's condition. 

The older boy was crying, holding a hand to a painfully red arm. His shoulders shook, his knees tucked to his chest, and Sokka couldn't help but feel worried about him. The feeling tore at his heart, driving him forward again, reaching out to wrap his arms around the distressed boy. 

His hand never connected. 

Confused, he tried again, but saw his hand melt through the other boy's shoulder. 

Spirit world, of course. He couldn't even comfort his friend properly. Instead, he had to use his words. Not a strong suit. 

"Are you okay?" He asked. Zuko shook his head, ponytail swishing behind him. It had gotten really long lately. "What happened?"

Zuko glanced up at him, eyes puffy and red, face slick with tears, before hiding his face in his knees. 

"It's like everything's happening all at once." He mumbled, muffled by his pants. "Grandfather died, Mom went missing, Dad's Fire Lord now-"

"Your dad's the Fire Lord?!" Sokka exclaimed, then slapped his hands over his mouth. He hadn't intended to cut the other boy off, but his impulse control was awful at the best of times. 

Zuko just nodded into his knees. "They said Grandfather wanted the throne to pass to him instead of Uncle, even though Uncle is older. Even though yesterday, Grandfather said…" Zuko squeezed his legs tighter to himself, a choked sob forcing its way out of his throat. "Yesterday, Grandfather said that he'd only let Dad have the throne if he- if he killed me." 

Sokka was speechless. He swallowed hard. "Is that- is that what the- why your arm is hurt…?" Sokka guessed. Zuko shook his head, still buried in his knees. 

"He didn't really do it. Try to kill me, I mean. This is… I asked him about Mom after Grandfather's funeral. He got mad about it. No one can get mad at him because he's the Fire Lord, so he…"

"I'm sorry." Sokka had no idea what to say. What do you say? 

"It's okay." Zuko claimed. "In the real world, the healers bandaged it up and put salve on it, to treat the burn. It'll get better."

"It's not okay!" Sokka insisted, fuming. "No matter who your dad is, he can't do that! Dads are supposed to protect their kids from getting hurt, or from being sad!" 

He clenched his jaw, holding back the rest of what he wanted to say, seeing tears well up anew in Zuko's eyes. 

"He was right, though…" The other boy mumbled. "I'm next in line for the throne now. I have to act like it. I can't be whining, or asking unnecessary questions, or being a nuisance. I shouldn't have bothered him. I brought this on myself." 

His voice sounded flat, like he was repeating words that had been said to him. Sokka didn't doubt they had. 

"He was not right, and you know it! You didn't do anything wrong!"

"You don't know anything about it, Sokka!" Zuko suddenly shouted, his short temper rearing its head. "You don't know anything about the expectations on me as royalty! You're just a Water Tribe peasant! I have to be _perfect_ , okay?! And I'm just-" He crumpled. "I'm anything but perfect." 

"You know what? You're right!" Sokka threw his hands up, his own temper flaring. "I don't know anything about it! We choose our leaders based on who _deserves_ it, and we know perfectly well that everyone, _everyone_ has flaws! Of course you'll never be perfect! Nobody is!"

"Azula is." Zuko argued, subdued. "She's a genius and a prodigy. She can never do anything wrong. Dad's always proud of her. I can't compete."

"Azula's also evil and heartless! You told me she 'plays mean pranks'," Sokka emphasized with air quotes, "but the things she does are downright cruel! That's a flaw if I've ever seen one! So no, nobody's perfect! Not even your awful little sister!"

Zuko looked like he wanted to argue, but bit his tongue. Sokka stared at him for a long moment, arms crossed, brows furrowed. They'd reached a stalemate. 

He turned on his heel and marched out the door. The sound of Zuko sobbing afresh paused his steps, but he steeled himself and continued.

The room melted away, and he stood before the deer spirit once again. 

"Take me home." He ordered. The spirit nodded, turning to lead him, as always. 

As the land shifted beneath them, Sokka mulled over the new information he'd recieved. His secret Fire Nation friend wasn't just some noble, he was royalty. The crown prince, first in line for the Fire Lord's royal seat.

If he hadn't felt like a traitor before, he sure as hell did now. 

\---

When the news came that there was a new Fire Lord, weeks later by way of letter, Sokka pretended to be as shocked as the rest of the village. Shortly thereafter, the fighting all over the world amped up, the new Fire Lord stepping up the presence of troops in the Earth Kingdom. The men of the village worked hard to build ships, craft weapons, and cure foods for long journeys. Sokka helped where he could, putting in his fair share of the work. His father assured him that they would stay out of the war for as long as possible, the village too small to lose so many members at once, but there was an unspoken understanding that it was only a matter of time. 

More often than not, Sokka's sleep was dreamless, exhausted after a hard day's work. 

Every once in a while, the familiar spirit would show itself, trying to lead an increasingly stubborn Sokka back to Zuko. When he did follow, his interactions with the Prince were strained, arguments breaking out constantly. Zuko became stubborn, ignoring Sokka's advice, playing the good little prince. For a while, Sokka stopped coming altogether, steaming over the last argument. For the first time ever, the prince had referred to him as an "ice savage", sneering at him like he was less than trash, despite having known each other for nearly four whole years at that point. It was only when the spirit began to show up every single night, without fail, for an entire month, that Sokka finally gave in, intending only to give the asshole prince a piece of his mind. 

The spirit did not lead him to Zuko's sprawling bedroom this time. 

The tiny room was cramped, full of medical equipment. Zuko lay on a stiff cot, hunched in on himself under a thin blanket. His long hair had been nearly shaved completely off, leaving only enough to pull into a ponytail. All of the anger Sokka had been building up bled out of him.

He padded over carefully, reaching out slowly, forgetting entirely that his hand wouldn't connect. 

"I know you're there." Zuko said, not turning over. 

"Hi." Sokka said. 

"You're back." The prince swung his legs off of the cot, the blanket falling away to reveal bare shoulders. He remained resolutely faced away.

"Yep." Sokka loudly popped his lips on the 'p'. He sidled over, lowering himself onto the cot beside him. 

Zuko turned his head away stiffly, only allowing Sokka to see him in profile, even holding a hand to the other side of his face for insurance. 

"What do you want?" Zuko spat, tone more accusatory than inquisitive. 

"Hey, I don't get to choose when I come here, okay? A big deer plops me here, remember?"

"Oh." 

An uncomfortable silence falls between them. 

"I shouldn't have-"

"I'm still-"

They both started at the same time. Zuko cleared his throat. 

"You go first." He mumbled.

Sokka sighed. "I was just going to say- I'm still mad about what you said last time. It was way out of line."

"I know."

"I may not be from the Fire Nation, but I'm not stupid."

"I know."

"Then why would you say that? I was really hurt, you know. I thought we were friends."

"We are friends!" Zuko interjected, defensively. He nearly turned to face Sokka, before remembering he was hiding his face. 

"Well, it sure doesn't feel like it lately. All you can do is insult me and my people." Sokka huffed, feeling the same anger that had accompanied his last several visits looming. 

Zuko shrank into himself. "I don't know. I haven't really been able to… I think, maybe, it's because I feel like you're, I dunno, like you're the manifestation of my own weakness. Or something." The last part was barely audible, Zuko losing steam partway through the sentence. 

Sokka frowned, not sure if he should be insulted. "What does that mean?" 

"I dunno." A heavy sigh. "I guess I mean, like… I'm meant to be the symbol of my people, ruthless, decisive. Future Fire Lord and all that. But my closest friend is… someone like you."

"There it is again! How can you say I'm your friend and then turn around and say something like that?!" Sokka pointed an accusing finger at him. Zuko glared, then dropped his gaze, looking guilty.

"I just mean that… I feel like I'm betraying everyone, just by talking to you like this."

Sokka couldn't argue with that. "Honestly? I feel the same way." 

Zuko winced at that. Another awkward silence fell. 

"Where are we, anyway?" Sokka finally said, desperate to break the tension. 

"Ship's medical bay." 

"Oh. Are you hurt?"

"You could say that." 

"Is that what you won't show me?"

"Yeah." 

Sokka stared at what he could see of Zuko's face, searching his expression. He had the distinct look of a boy resolutely distancing himself from a great pain. Sokka had seen it often enough in the mirror to recognize it. 

"Will you show me?"

Zuko shook his head, paused to consider, then nodded slowly. 

"I just don't want to gross you out. I know the salves and bandages don't show up here."

"Pretty bad then, huh?"

"That'd be an understatement."

"Show me."

Hesitantly, Zuko lowered his hand, turning his face to see Sokka properly. 

Sokka's stomach turned. 

The skin was shiny and bubbling, wrinkled like it had melted. He remembered the burn wound he'd seen on Zuko's upper arm two years ago and thought it probably had. 

It was by far the gnarliest wound he'd ever seen, and several of the warriors had been badly burned during the raid. 

"Ouch." He said simply.

"Yeah."

"How'd it happen?"

Zuko turned away again, hiding his face once more. 

"I'm not really… ready to talk about it. You can guess, though. You're smart."

He was. His hands clenched into fists. "That asshole can't get away with shit like this!" He growled, teeth gritted.

"He can. There's no one who can question him."

Sokka swallowed his argument. It always led to a circular argument that left him angry for days after. 

"And why is this injury being cared for on a boat and not in like, the royal infirmary in the royal palace by the royal physician?" He asked, instead.

"Normally, it would be." Huh, he'd been joking. He really didn't get royalty stuff. "But I was also banished."

"Banished?!" 

"I can't return to Fire Nation soil until I've proven my honor unquestionably. My father gave me a task. I intend to follow it through." 

"I guess… best of luck with that, buddy. But…" He chewed his lip, warring with himself whether to start the argument. "You know, whatever wild goose chase your asshole dad sent you on probably won't prove anything. That bastard's the least honorable guy I can think of."

"Don't you _dare_ speak of my father in that way! Like you know anything!" Zuko snarled. Sokka barely flinched, expecting that response.

"I'm just saying." Sokka shrugged. "He can't restore your honor any more than he could take it away in the first place."

"You don't _get_ it! Ugh, I don't know why I always expect some backwater _peasant_ to understand what I'm talking about!"

"You're the one who's not getting it! Whatever you're after, your dad's approval or love or whatever, that's not honor! And it's not worth killing yourself over, either!" 

"It's worth _anything_ , Sokka." Zuko insisted with finality. "Just… go."

"Zuko…"

"Leave!" Zuko lashed out, forgetting he couldn't summon fire or make contact. Sokka obeyed anyway. 

"Just… just think about it, okay?" Sokka pleaded to Zuko's tense back. When he got no response, he turned to leave. 

The ship's cabin faded from view and he followed the spirit home, heart heavy. As always, despite leaving on bad terms, he missed the other boy already. 

He didn't know it yet, but that would be the last time they saw one another in nearly three years. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edit: now with chapter art!! find me on tumblr at jovialjuggernaut-draws, where ive been drawing lots of zukka junk!


	2. The Boy in the Iceberg

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its here baby!!  
> im following the episodes broadly but changing dialogue and events some bc i dont wanna just write out episodes weve all seen  
> also sokka not sexist bc thats exhausting and i dont wanna write it so screw it

It was two years after their father and the other warriors had left to join the war effort. Despite their frustration at having been left behind, Sokka and Katara had no time to dwell on it, constantly having more work to do. 

Today, the siblings were taking the rare chance to do a chore together, spending the day together for the first time in longer than they'd care to admit. 

Sokka had announced he was going fishing, and Katara had leapt at the excuse to practice her waterbending on something practical. Sokka wanted to argue, but it was true he hadn't spent nearly enough time with his little sister lately, and a little bit of magic might go a long way in speeding up the process. 

Their little canoe floated out between the icebergs, the two navigating around chunks of ice drifting this way and that. Katara would attempt to gently push smaller chunks out of the way, but the rippling waves would rock the canoe, earning her a grumpy glare from her older brother. 

Sokka returned his focus to the clear water beneath them as the small waves settled again, angling his spear towards a glittering shape near the surface. Katara's voice rang out behind him, excited, but he barely heard her, mentally calculating the change in angle to account for the water's refraction. 

Without warning, he was suddenly soaked in icy water. 

"Katara! What was that for?!" He rounded on her, glaring again. A small, silvery fish flopped in the canoe between them. Katara wasn't looking at him. 

"I... recognize this place..." She murmured, eyes unfocused. 

"Recognize it? I'd certainly hope so, we're not  _ that _ far from home." He groused, crossing his arms. He shivered, clothes still soaked. "Hey, uh, Katara? A little help here?" 

Finally, her focus returned to him, snapping out of wherever it had been before. "Oh, right, sorry. Let me get that..." 

With unpracticed motions, she struggled to pull on the water. Several drops followed her pulling, drifting out from his parka and falling to the deck of the canoe. 

"Thanks." He'd meant to sound sincere, but was still grumpy enough that it came across as sarcastic. 

"Hey, I'm trying!" She huffed, fists on her hips. "There's not exactly anybody who can teach me what I'm supposed to do! You should be grateful I can even do this much!" 

"Yeah, yeah, thanks for doing your fancy magic and helping me get dry- well, less wet." He waved a hand dismissively. She grumbled, crossing her arms. 

"As I was saying..." She started, gaze sweeping around the ice surrounding them, "I recognize this place. From a long time ago… it feels like a dream, though." 

Sokka felt his eyebrows draw together. It sounded familiar. "You recognize it from a dream?" 

"It's probably nothing. Let's get back to it. Forget I said anything." 

"No, no- You think it's the place from the guidance ritual?" Sokka clarified. 

"Guidance ritual? Sokka, I'm only fourteen. I haven't done it yet. And neither have you, as far as I'm aware." Katara smirked at him, as though he was being an idiot. Sokka glowered.

"You're right. I haven't. Technically. But you have." Now she just looked confused. Sokka rolled his eyes and groaned dramatically. "You don't even remember?! Well… I guess you  _ were  _ just six at the time." 

Katara's eyes went wide. "I did?" She furrowed her brow, trying to remember.

"Yeah. After I… well, you just got it in your head that you wanted to do it. You said you went to an ice field like this and then you almost froze to death. You really don't remember?" She shook her head, hesitantly. "I'd think something like that would be traumatizing, honestly. Well, I guess you were just a little kid back then."

Katara chewed her lip, looking back out onto the still water, considering this new information. She glanced over at her brother, wringing her hands, then started to turn the canoe using the water beneath them.

"Woah! Give a guy some warning!" Sokka shrieked, toppling backwards, almost onto the fish still struggling on the deck. Feeling bad for it, he righted himself and drew his whalebone knife, putting it out of its misery and onto the ice they'd gathered for the purpose. 

"Sorry. I'm trying to remember where I went…" Seeing the look of complete concentration on her face, Sokka sat back and kept quiet. As long as she didn't go too far, he could navigate them back home just fine. Let her have her little detour. 

She struggled to control the boat properly, but grew more confident as the long minutes passed. The canoe's path leveled out, gliding more seamlessly down the path Katara had chosen. 

Sokka grew nervous, seeing the icebergs increasing in number. Soon, they wouldn't be able to dodge them all. "Uhh, Katara?" 

She didn't slow or change course. She looked as though she were in a trance. 

"Uhh, Katara!" His voice cracking in his panic, he scrambled to grab their little oar and forcibly push them off path. As soon as he did, they overcorrected and the canoe slid between two ice chunks that were crashing together, crushing the canoe between them. Grabbing Katara instinctively, Sokka pushed off of the deck just in time, sliding up onto the ice. 

"Sokka! Why did you do that?!" Katara shrieked.

"Me?! You were gonna plow right through all of this! I was trying to save us!" Sokka argued.

"Save us?!" A huff of incredulous laughter. "By steering us right into a death trap?! If you'd been a second slower-!" She cut herself off, trying not to think of the end of that particular thought. 

"Well, I wasn't, so maybe a 'thank you' is in order?" Sokka crossed his arms.

"Sure, Sokka! Thank you so much for wrecking our boat, stranding us out here!" 

Accompanying her stomping foot and wild gestures came a terrible cracking of the ice. For one panicked second, Sokka thought she'd damaged the ice they were standing on, before seeing the deep crevasse creeping up the towering iceberg behind her. 

"You never believe in me! I do so much work, all the cooking, and sewing, and teaching myself bending on top of it, and you never appreciate any of it!" 

Another crack streaking up the iceberg and Sokka was gripped by a terrible panic.

"You didn't even want to bring me with you today, even though you  _ know  _ I'd be helpful! Which one of us  _ actually  _ caught a fish today, huh? Me! Not you! What do you even do when you're gone all day?! While I'm hard at work doing all the chores?! Huh?!" 

Large pieces of the iceberg began to slough off, splashing into the water below and jostling their precarious perch.

"What, nothing to say for yourself?! I've HAD it with you!" She finally noticed his finger, pointing nervously behind her. "What?!" She huffed, turning around, in time to see the last of the glacier tumbling in chunks, the displaced water heaving under them. They scrambled to get a grip, knowing the chances of their survival were they to fall in were dour. 

"Did… did I do that?" Katara murmured in wonder. 

"Yyyep." Sokka clapped her on the shoulder. "You're officially terrifying." 

Seriously, he thought, that was way too much power for one hormonal teenage girl to wield. He was downright lucky she didn't know how to use it properly. 

A rising glow under the surface distracted them both from their argument, lighting up the sea with eerie light. They stared, twin expressions of shock on their faces, as an enormous, perfectly round orb of ice bobbed to the surface, the source of the glow. Illuminated from within, the dark outline of a human figure hovered. Someone unlucky enough to get lost out here, Sokka assumed. 

That is, until glowing eyes broke the silhouette. 

"He's alive in there!" Katara shouted, grabbing Sokka's club. 

"Wait, Katara!" Sokka lunged after her, too slowly. She'd already hopped across the water, fearless, driven. 

By the time he made it to her side, she'd driven the blunt end of the club into the sphere several times, sending long cracks up its sides. Sokka moved to grab at her, trying to pull her out of the way, as the cracks began to spread on their own. 

"Watch out!" 

A great gust of air spews out of the ice, nearly blowing the pair into the freezing water. As abruptly as it had begun, it ended, an eerie stillness settling in instead. The siblings blinked their cold, dry eyes, struggling to focus. When they did, their jaws dropped in shock. 

A boy, younger even than Katara, with glowing tattoos was lowering gently to the splintered ice before them. Behind him yawned an enormous beast, some sort of six-legged buffalo creature Sokka had never heard of. The moment the boy's feet touched the ground (gently, gracefully, as though gravity had no pull on him), his tattoos faded and he crumpled in a heap. 

Katara rushed forward, gripping his shoulders so he wouldn't slide off the precarious ice shelf. 

The boy groaned, leaning heavily into Katara as he attempted to right himself.

"Where are we…?" His voice was scratchy with sleep, as though he'd merely woken up from a nap. 

"The south pole, near the Southern Water Tribe." Katara explained gently. "We just rescued you from inside this iceberg."

"The south pole?" He rubbed at his eyes, voice growing clearer. Suddenly, his expression grew bright, all traces of sleepiness vanishing like they'd never been there at all. "There's penguin-otters there! Oh, we have to go penguin sledding! You'll come with me, won't you?" 

A hesitant smile bloomed on Katara's face, the boy's enthusiasm was infectious. 

"Sure, why not?" She agreed.

"Heck yeah! Woohoo!" The boy whooped, jumping into the air in glee. The wind whipped around him, propelling him a dozen feet into the air. 

"What the heck was that?!" Sokka demanded. "How did you do that?!" 

"How did I do what?" The boy cocked his head, as though he  _ hadn't  _ just casually flown above them.

"You flew! Straight up! Wind doesn't work like that!" He waved his arms emphatically, nearly hitting Katara in his frustration. She dodged, smacking his arm in retaliation. 

"It does for me!" The boy said proudly. He spun, lifting himself in the air again, sending himself spinning around the remains of the ice sphere on a barely-visible cushion of breeze. "I'm an airbender!" 

Like it was possible. No, not just possible, like it was completely normal. 

"Wow! A real airbender!" Katara gasped. Sokka scowled. She was always so trusting. 

"That's impossible." Sokka argued. "There haven't been any airbenders in, like, a century." 

The boy laughed. "Whoever told you that was pulling your leg! There's a whole bunch of us, not far from here! At the Southern Air Temple!" 

A bunch of airbenders that had escaped the brutal genocide? Hiding out in their own temple? Unlikely. Sokka held his tongue. 

"I'd love to see it!" Katara was downright bubbly now, stars in her eyes. Suddenly, her shoulders drooped. "But it'd take too long to get there. We have so much to do at home. There's not many of us young and able-bodied left." 

Sokka put a comforting hand on her shoulder, rubbing gently. 

"It won't take long at all! We can take Appa!" The boy motioned to his buffalo. 

"I'm sorry, how is a buffalo supposed to get us there any faster than a boat?" Sokka groused. 

"Not a buffalo! A sky bison!" The boy explained. "He can fly!"

"Riiight." Sokka rolled his eyes. "Can you believe this guy, Katara?" He nudged her with his elbow, trying to get her back on his side. She didn't respond. "Katara?" He repeated with more concern. 

She continued to stare at the buffalo- no, sky bison. Appa, the kid said? Her eyes were far away, lost in thought, mesmerized by the beast.

Sokka waved a hand in front of her face. She blinked, then scowled, smacking his hand away. 

"I recognize him." She explained without really explaining anything.

"You do? How?" Sokka tilted his head, getting a new angle on the bison. Nope, not ringing any bells.

"He led me here." She chewed her lip, eyebrows drawing together. "It feels like water slipping through my fingers, but… I feel like I remember following him out onto the water." 

"During the guidance ritual dream?"

"Yeah."

"Huh."

"Hey, hey! What's this all about?!" The airbender interrupted. "You guys know Appa?" He turned to the bison. "That's great! These guys are your friends, buddy?" 

The bison lowed, a deep, gravelly sound. 

"He came to me in a dream. He led me here, to you." Katara explained. "I think he wanted me to save you."

"Woaaah… Thanks, buddy! You're the best." He leapt up, breeze carrying him all the way to the crown of the bison's head, and gave his beast a wide embrace, burying himself in the thick fur. That had to be nice and warm, Sokka thought, especially with a sharp, chilly breeze blowing through. 

"And thank you, too!" The airbender touched gently down before them once more, ending up more in Katara's personal space than her brother was comfortable with. "I dunno how I got in there, but I'm sure glad you showed up when you did!" 

"Can we wrap this up?" Sokka groused. "It feels like a snowstorm is gonna start soon. We should hurry back."

"Want a lift?" The boy asked brightly. Sokka frowned suspiciously at the bison. 

"No." He said with finality, spinning on his heel towards the canoe… the canoe!

"You ran the canoe up on the ice, remember?" Katara taunted, already seated in the bison's saddle. "We don't have a choice." 

"Guess that's settled, then! Come on!" 

Slumping dramatically, Sokka stomped his way up the bison's wide tail. 

"Don't be so glum! You're about to get to fly!" The boy grinned.

"I'll believe it when I see it." Sokka grumbled. 

The boy just laughed and cracked the reigns between the bison's horns. "Yip yip!"

With a great leap, the bison launched into the air. For a moment, Sokka almost believed it would actually take off flying, as promised, before it splashed heavily into the icy water, soaking his parka again. 

Of course. 

"Wow, that was really something." He said flatly, sarcastically. 

"Appa's just tired. Aren't you, buddy?" The boy scratched the bison's head as it lowed in response. "He'll be up in the air as soon as he's had a chance to rest!" 

Sokka rolled his eyes. He almost missed the gooey eyes the boy was giving his sister. 

Almost. 

"What's your name, by the way? You never told us." Katara asked, leaning over the front of the saddle. 

"Who, me?" The boy asked. Sokka groaned. Who else, genius? "I'm Aang." His face split into a doofy grin. 

"I'm Katara." 

"Wow, what a pretty name…" Aang was still fawning over her. Katara blushed. Sokka gagged. 

"The  _ jerk- _ " Katara shot a sharp look back at Sokka, "is my brother, Sokka." 

Sokka lifted a hand in an easy wave. Aang returned the gesture, more enthusiastically. 

"So…" Katara started, biting her lip and looking away. "Do the Air Nomads know about… soulmates?" 

Ugh. 

"Yeah! The monks are really in touch with the spirit world, after all!"

"Do you… know who yours is?" 

Aang shook his head. "I meditated on it a while back, but the spirits told me it 'wasn't time yet', whatever that means." Aang did a silly, deep voice and air quotes to represent the spirits' words. Sokka was amused to see being 'in touch' with the spirits didn't necessarily preclude irreverence. 

"Huh. That's really interesting." Katara said, faux casually, but Sokka was able to pick up on a weird tone. 

"What about you?" Aang asked. His voice seemed innocent enough, but Sokka sensed an ulterior motive. It was in that dopey smile and gooey eyes the kid had for his sister. 

"Well… we mentioned the guidance ritual earlier, right?" Aang nodded. "That's what our tribe does to ask the spirits to guide us to our soulmates. Maybe it's nothing, but… when I did the ritual, Appa led me to you."

"Hmm…" Aang responded, barely hiding how excited he was by the prospect of Katara being his soulmate, "Appa isn't a spirit, though… I wonder what that means?" 

"It's probably nothing… I'm sorry I brought it up." 

"No, no! I think it's really cool! Maybe we'll figure out what it means later?" 

"Yeah, maybe. Thanks, Aang." 

"Of course!" Then, apparently just remembering Sokka was there, "How about you, Sokka? Did you do the soulmate ritual, too?"

"Guidance ritual. And no, no I haven't." He answered honestly, although he knew that wasn't what Aang was asking, not really. 

"Oh… maybe you'll get a chance to, soon, then!"

"We usually do it when someone turns sixteen." Katara explained. "Sokka just had his fifteenth birthday a few months ago." 

"Oh." Aang looked a bit awkward. Good, Sokka thought, it's not just me, now. He always had trouble lying, and the soulmate talk was dicey at best. 

He hadn't even seen his soulmate in so long, now, and was torn between missing him terribly and feeling relieved. Talking to him had been so easy, and fun, and Sokka looked forward to doing so, but he had a bad taste in his mouth afterwards every time, like he'd been feeding secrets to the enemy. 

Not that Zuko, personally, was the enemy, but his father certainly was, and that counted for something. Counted for a lot, if Sokka was being honest. 

Aang steered his bison onward, closing the distance to the village surprisingly quickly for an animal unsuited to swimming. The rest of the trip was uncomfortably quiet, Aang and Katara being all awkward and weird and gross. Sokka was relieved to get off the bison and greet their village, the entirety of which had gathered on the outskirts to see the giant animal approach. 

"Sokka, Katara!" Gran-Gran exclaimed. "What have you two been up to?" 

"Hey, Gran-Gran." Sokka greeted, accepting her warm hug. 

"Gran-Gran! Look who we met!" Katara slid from the bison gracefully, landing in a run and sweeping Gran-Gran into a hug of her own. "This is Aang, he's an airbender!" 

"An airbender, eh? Haven't seen one of those in near a century." 

"That's what Sokka said!" Aang pouted. "But we're really real! Watch this!" The airbender spun around his staff, startling the gathered villagers when cloth wings sprung out from either side. He took a running leap, gliding into the air unnaturally. The entire crowd watched with mixed expressions of shock and glee. Katara even clapped. 

"That was amazing, Aang!" She enthused. 

"Aw, that's nothing." Aang rubbed the back of his neck, mock-humble. "All the monks can do that much!" 

"It's still incredible! I've never seen anything like it!" 

"Ugh, stop making goo-goo eyes at each other already..." Sokka grumbled.

"Come, now, Katara." Gran-Gran swooped in to rescue him from an incurable case of the oogies. "There's much to be done." 

Sokka watched his sister be led away, glancing back at the airbender as she went. Aang waved when he caught her. She blushed and waved back. 

"Whatever. You… entertain yourself. I've got work to do, too." 

\---

"Prince Zuko, this is a fool's gambit and you know it." Uncle admonished. 

"I can't afford to ignore any phenomena that might lead me to the Avatar. You know that full well." Zuko turned from his uncle and returned his gaze to the spyglass. 

"We are near the south pole, nephew. Mystical lights illuminate the skies on the regular. You cannot simply chase the celestial lights and expect results."

"This was different, Uncle!" Zuko insisted, sparks flying from his lips. "You saw it as well as I did! A perfect ray of light, shining from a specific point on the horizon. That's unnatural." 

"Be that as it may," Uncle sighed, snapping a tile down with more force, "chasing headlong after every strange event without regard for your own wellbeing or that of your crew is going to come back to hurt you. The majority of strange events in this world have nothing to do with the Avatar, and everything to do with the Spirit World."

Zuko grit his teeth. "Maybe I'd like to antagonize the Spirit World…" He ground out. Uncle hummed disapprovingly, but declined to respond, knowing Zuko had not been speaking to him.

Since his banishment, Zuko hadn't seen the strange Water Tribe boy once. In this time of turmoil and suffering, he needed the other boy's disarming cheer and unburdened smile more than ever. For so long, he'd relied on Sokka to be his rock, a safe place to return to when the waves of his life tore too turbulently. Now, those waves were greater than ever, and he was simply dragged ever deeper into the sea. 

He'd been abandoned, betrayed… no, the other boy was the enemy to begin with. A rebellious spirit who resented the Fire Nation's attempt to civilise the land. It was ridiculous to feel hurt by his absence. Zuko should feel relieved, in fact! No more distractions, no savage drivel filling his head with lies, turning his heart from his homeland and his mission. 

Zuko had convinced himself this excursion to the southernmost point of the earth had nothing to do with the other boy. He hadn't checked this far south yet, was all. There were no rumors coming out of the area, but there was also no news leaving more generally. It wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that the ice had concealed his quarry for so long. Combined with the brilliant, celestial phenomenon he had witnessed, Zuko held more hope than he had in the last two years that this was finally it, finally his chance to secure his honor, his throne, and his peace of mind. 

Ignoring his uncle's pleas to rest, Zuko ordered the crew to push onward, chasing that pillar of light. It had long since dimmed, but its imprint remained in his mind. 

\---

Babysitting duty was always annoying. Sokka did his best to teach the gathered children what fighting techniques he knew while he was in charge of watching them, but none of them could so much as hold a spear properly. 

Katara had run off the moment she could with Aang, taking him up on his offer to ride the penguins with her. He huffed, crossing his arms and tapping his toes impatiently, waiting for his charges to finish their potty break. He had a sneaking suspicion at least half of them had just said they had to pee because the rest of them had. 

For all Katara complained about doing 'all the chores', she spent a lot of time playing around. Sure, she called it 'practice', but he didn't see how it was any different than playing in the snow. 

He, on the other hand, had many important things to do. He caught all of the fish and meat for the village, single-handedly shored up all of their defenses (he was particularly proud of his recently-completed watchtower), and, of course, handled the babysitting while the women of the village prepared meals. No time in that schedule for playing around. Not that he was jealous, no. His baby sister deserved to have fun. He just resented that she thought  _ he  _ was the one having fun. Like he didn't feel the full weight of the village on his shoulders. 

Grousing about being left behind in favor of  _ penguins  _ and  _ some boy,  _ Sokka didn't see the flare go off, but the kids stared and pointed. He spun around, heart plummeting into his stomach at the sight of the bright light hovering in the air so near the village. 

They'd been so  _ stupid!  _ He hadn't even  _ thought  _ to guess the boy may have been some sort of spy. Of course! That would explain how an airbender was still alive. Some of them must have sold themselves out! 

It was all Zuko's fault Sokka was so soft, so unguarded! Stupid of him, to be so taken in by a pretty face with pretty eyes and a soft smile, forgetting so easily who the  _ real  _ enemy was. 

Sokka steeled himself, gathering up the children and herding them towards the relative safety of the village. If they were lucky, no Fire Navy ships were nearby to signal. If they were unlucky… well, Sokka was  _ always  _ unlucky. It was only a question of  _ how many _ now.

\---

A flare, a guide, and Zuko finally had eyes on his quarry. Despite everyone,  _ everyone's  _ insistence that he was a fool for even trying, for believing his mission had an end, for believing the Avatar might still exist. 

The airbender fled toward a tiny plot of snow, short walls packed haphazardly around a gathering of tents and igloos. Zuko's heart leapt into his throat, but he swallowed it down, hardening his heart. The likelihood that this little village was  _ his  _ little village… actually, it was pretty high. 

He ordered his men to pilot towards the village anyway, as quickly as possible. The ship built up speed, a more concrete goal in sight. 

Zuko gripped the railing of the ship hard enough to turn his knuckles white. His fingers had been losing feeling slowly, but heat rushed through him once more in his excitement. 

He was going home.


	3. The Avatar Returns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one uses more of the actual episode so i hope its not terribly boring!!

Sokka sent Aang away from the village the moment they'd returned. Luckily, Gran-Gran was on his side about this, even if Katara wasn't.

He had a bad feeling she'd never pick his side over Aang's ever again. 

She chose not to abandon the village, though, so Sokka counted that as a win, at least. 

He ordered the children to attend to their battle stations, seeing the snow already starting to blacken with soot. 'Battle stations', of course, meant they should all return to their mothers and stay in their tents until the danger passed. Sokka claimed it was so they could ambush the enemy if need be. They didn't argue. 

Sokka busied himself, in the meantime, preparing to actually participate in the oncoming battle.

Alone.

The war paint went on easily, practiced hands smearing the paints quickly and seamlessly. His battle garb was lighter than his usual thick furs, but the weight of it wasn't in the fabric. As the only warrior in the village, he bore the full weight of protecting everyone he loved on his own shoulders. He feared he wouldn't be strong enough. The war paint masked his worry. 

\---

Zuko was rarely allowed to dress himself, and donning his armor was no different. His crew settled the heavy metal across his shoulders, buckling it into place. He took a deep breath, calming his racing heart. 

When, finally, the helmet settled atop his head, he strode forward with purpose, climbing back onto the deck to observe their approach. 

With alarm, he saw the ship encroaching far too quickly on the little village. His memory supplied an old, nearly forgotten conversation between his soulmate and himself. 

The boy had talked at length about the time it took to build up the walls of snow around the village. Zuko had been confused about such a task. Surely, some snow couldn't provide much protection from an attack? Why waste their time?

Sokka had explained that the walls weren't for keeping anything out- they were for keeping the heat  _ in.  _ On the icy tundra, it was difficult to make and keep enough warmth to keep everyone safe. Fires could blow out, clothes could get wet, but the snow was thick and insulating. Those snow walls were what let their people survive out here on the ice.

And Zuko's ship was on course to plow right through them.

"What's going on?! Helmsman! Why aren't we stopping?!"

"We are, Prince Zuko!" Came the answering call. "The ship should come to a stop somewhere near the edge of the village!"

"That's not good enough!" Zuko snarled in response. "Stop faster! Weigh anchor if you have to!"

"I'm telling you, we already have! We can't stop any faster than this!"

Zuko spun on his heel, watching them plow forward, too fast. He took a deep breath, pushing his swirling emotions out of the way, and returned below deck to join the landing party. No pity, no weakness. These people were hiding his quarry from them. They deserved what was coming to them.

\---

Sokka took his place as sole defender of the village, perched near his watchtower on the low wall. He held his club before him, as much for his own nerves as for expressing a threat. 

Slowly, it dawned on him that the warship was not stopping quickly enough. It began to tear through the ice shelf, the resistance aiding in its deceleration. Still, it grew closer and closer, pushing the packed snow with its advance. Sokka nearly lost his footing, but held firmly upright. It was all for naught, though, as the snow beneath him slid into a slope, bringing him down to ground level and out of the way of the ship as it finally halted. 

He took a deep breath, fighting the encroaching fear as the hull began to open, steam spilling out of it in thick clouds. 

A handful of Fire Navy soldiers spilled out, their boots ringing out on the metal ramp. Leading them was a soldier in a differently-styled helmet than the others, face partially visible, and significantly shorter than the rest. He strode forward with purpose, the others trailing behind. 

Sokka set his sights on that one. He had to be the leader. 

He charged forward, club raised above his head, boots sinking deep in the piled snow before gaining traction on the ship's solid ramp. 

Without flinching, the leading soldier swung out a shockingly quick kick, sending his club flying into the snow, followed shortly by his face. 

Sokka gathered himself, shaking the snow off of himself. Judging by the wetness of his face and the gray smudges in the snow, his war paint was mostly gone. Fair enough. He felt less like a warrior than ever. He gripped his club anyway.

\---

Zuko had been expecting some resistance, but the village had a single warrior standing guard.

Well, warrior was a bit of a strong word. Within moments, it was clear this boy was untrained and inexperienced. He'd deflected his advance in moments, focussed on his goal. 

He led the landing party to the snow, crunching beneath their boots, already beginning to soak through with freezing water. Their uniforms weren't designed for this awful place. 

Villagers, all clothed in familiar blue and white furs, spilled from the surrounding tents, looking on in fear and horror. He smothered the guilty feeling in his chest with triumph. Surely, they reacted like this because they knew who he was here for, the guilt they felt for hiding such an important fugitive eating at them.

"Where is he?" He demanded. "Over one hundred years old? Master of all four elements?" 

The villagers played dumb, shaking their heads in mock confusion. He seethed. He knew they were hiding the Avatar, but they lied straight to his face!

A cracked war cry alerted him to the teenage warrior making another charge. He dodged smoothly, watching with boredom as the boy overshot. Zuko sent a blast of fire his way, a warning shot. Surely, the boy would think twice before attacking a bender. 

Instead, he reached for another weapon, spinning around to fling it. The weapon spun through the air, missing Zuko by a wide margin. He watched it go, then rounded on the boy in fury. 

The anger bled from him in an instant. 

The snow had wiped away the majority of the war paint the boy had previously worn, revealing his face. Young, angular, and terribly familiar. 

Crouching before him, wielding a spear of bone, was his soulmate. 

He stared, shocked, wide-eyed, frozen in place. How could he be… no, he  _ knew  _ this was his home. The other boy had mentioned other villages scattered about the pole, but that didn't lower the likelihood of him finding the right one by all that much. 

The tip of the spear dropped. Sokka's brows furrowed in confusion. Probably wondering why Zuko was here. He'd begun to wonder that, himself. 

"Sokka…?" He began. The other boy drew in a sharp breath of surprise. He held his gaze for a long moment. 

Quite suddenly, the moment was broken. Something fast and solid smacked into his helmet, sending it flying. He snarled, holding his head and watching the helmet tumble into the snow. Returning his gaze to the young warrior, he caught his expression of dawning recognition. 

"Zuko…?" 

\--- 

Of course he hadn't recognized him, not at first. His face was older now, more angular, the baby fat having mostly burned away. His awful burn had healed only in the loosest sense of the word, the skin pink and puckered around a glassy eye. 

His hair, though, was still shaved into the style he had last seen it in, and the gold of his eyes remained bright as ever. 

It was undeniable. 

The name slipped from his lips unbidden, almost a prayer. A prayer that he was, somehow, wrong, that the boy he'd spent so many sleeping hours befriending  _ wasn't  _ the boy presently attacking his village, his people, in exactly the kind of betrayal he'd always feared but never expected. 

His prayers always went unanswered. 

Instead of the firebender in front of him miraculously not being Zuko, the miracle that presented was Aang's sudden presence, taking the boy out with a wildly sliding penguin. 

Fight the Fire Nation with fun, huh? 

\--- 

The fury searing through him melted the snow piled on his armor in an instant as he rounded on the boy. Just a kid, looking disoriented as the penguin he was riding honked off into the distance. Zuko motioned his soldiers forward, surrounding the boy. He looked nervous, clutching his staff to himself. 

Something was incredibly suspicious about this child. Strange clothes, strange tattoos, clearly not dressed nearly warmly enough for the climate. 

Zuko's suspicions were confirmed as the boy sent an unnatural gust of wind into the snow, forming waves that forced his soldiers back. 

"You're the airbender?!" He couldn't believe it. "You're the Avatar?!" 

A murmur of surprise spread through the gathered villagers. Zuko felt much the same. All this time, he'd expected to face a master, well past his prime, but with the fury of the combined elements at his back. This? This boy was so young, so untrained. 

Zuko struck out impulsively, angry that his years of hard training had been wasted. The airbender forced the flames away with an easy spin of his staff, catching the fire in the wind and snuffing it out. 

"You're just a child!"

The boy tilted his head in confusion. "Well, you're just a teenager." 

As though he didn't understand the weight of Zuko's fury. As though his age wasn't so incredibly important. 

What did it mean? Had the Avatar been reborn through the entire cycle without anyone knowing? How was this boy even born, or trained, for that matter? Did he even know what he was?

Well, yes, he had to. He hadn't reacted with surprise when Zuko had accused him of being the Avatar, only the villagers had. 

This was giving Zuko a headache. 

His mission hadn't changed. Bring the Avatar to his father, prove himself worthy of his throne. He struck out with more precision, sending bursts of flame towards the airbender. 

It was foolish of him, knowing how easily the airbender had deflected him before, but it still worked in his favor. The boy gave up almost as soon as the battle began, demanding Zuko leave the village untouched in return for his compliance. 

Zuko readily agreed. 

The Avatar was his.

\---

The village scrambled to repair the damage as soon as the ship reversed course. The sooner they could get a wall up, the better. Unfortunately, much of the ice shelf had been damaged, so the entire village would have to be moved further inland soon, but for now, a temporary wall would have to do. 

Sokka and Katara weren't helping. 

Sokka was busily readying a canoe, filling it with whatever he could think they may need. Food, weapons, changes of clothes… he couldn't be sure how long it would take to overtake the Fire Navy vessel. 

Katara was ranting to herself, or maybe she actually expected him to hear her? She stood out on the ice, watching the ship shrink into the distance. 

"Katara?" He finally cut in. She just continued without him, voice becoming more shrill with panic. "Katara!"

"What?!" She rounded on him furiously, tears at the corners of her eyes. 

"Are you gonna talk to yourself all day or are you coming with me?" 

"Sokka!" She flung herself at him, strangling him into a tight hug. 

"Come on, let's go save your soulmate." 

"We don't know that he's-"

"What are you two doing?" Gran-Gran shuffled over, stomping through the deepening snow. Already, the new flurries were beginning to cover the soot. "You'll need these. You may have a long journey ahead of you." 

She held out two bundles. The sleeping bags! Of course, how could he have forgotten! 

"Thanks, Gran-Gran."

The trio shared tight hugs and warm goodbyes, Gran-Gran imparting some last-minute sage advice, before sending them off. 

"Although… I don't think we'll ever catch up to them in a canoe." Katara murmured. 

"Well, what's your plan, then?" Sokka huffed. 

"Aang's bison must be somewhere around here, remember? He couldn't have gone too far." Katara raced off, climbing the nearest hill. Sokka heard the now-familiar lowing. "Appa! You came back all on your own!" She cheered. 

Sure enough, the bison was trudging steadily towards the village, forming deep grooves with his wide, flat tail. Katara raced forward to meet him, Sokka trailing begrudgingly behind. He couldn't deny that the beast was a decently fast swimmer. 

They climbed into the saddle easily, the bison using his tail to aid them, and stowed their belongings into the space clearly designed for the purpose. Katara took the reigns, leading them towards the ship, already invisible over the horizon. 

She cooed and coddled, coaxing the beast into the air. Sokka combed his brain, remembering Aang had given some sort of short command when he'd wanted the beast to fly. What was it? Katara's incessant gabbing, interspersed with insults for Sokka, was distracting. 

"Yee-haw? Hup-hup? That was closer… Yup-yup? Yip-yip?" 

Bingo. Without warning, a gust swirled around them, then below, sending them speeding into the sky. Sokka couldn't believe it. Nervous, delighted laughter bubbled unbidden from his chest. 

"We're flying! We're really flying! Katara, are you seeing this?!"

The smug look on her face killed his elation. 

"Right, whatever. Big deal." He hated proving her right. She was insufferable.

\---

Zuko had barely made it to his quarters when he heard the commotion in the halls. Well, the bait had already been delivered to his room. The Avatar wouldn't leave without his staff, he hoped. No, he was sure. 

He laid a trap, forcing the boy into another confrontation. 

Sure enough, the boy recklessly barrelled into the room, loudly announcing his arrival, and was caught completely off guard when Zuko sealed the exit. 

"I suppose we underestimated you. No matter. You won't escape so easily." 

The confrontation was just as short-lived as their last, but ended far less well. Zuko feared he'd have a concussion from the force with which the boy threw him into the metal walls of the ship. 

And then he was gone. 

Zuko scrambled to catch up, chasing him up to the bridge, where he saw the boy leap out over the deck. Surely he wasn't so reckless… no, the staff released cloth wings and the boy glided away. 

Seized with panic, Zuko flung himself after his quarry, his one chance at redemption. He couldn't fail, not when he'd had his first glimpse at the end in over two years. His fingers barely made purchase on the Avatar's boot, but he gripped tightly. His weight threw off the glider, sending them both crashing down to the deck in a rare stroke of luck. The universe was giving him chance after chance today, and he wouldn't waste it. 

\---

Appa flew far faster than either of them had ever moved, but the wind whipping around him settled into a more gentle breeze in the saddle. Airbending, Sokka assumed, which would explain how it flew without wings. 

They closed the distance to the ship in minutes, just in time to see Aang forced off the side of the ship with a blast of fire. His body splashed, limply, into the frozen surf. Sokka felt sick with panic. Katara's voice rang, distantly, in his ears, screaming Aang's name. 

All hope was lost. No matter how little the cold seemed to affect him, even he couldn't survive a plunge into those icy waters. They wouldn't be fast enough to rescue him. 

The universe, luckily, loved to prove Sokka wrong. 

The sea bubbled and swayed, a familiar glow rising from the depths. A whirlpool formed, then rose, bringing Aang's body with it, tattoos once again alight. The water obeyed him, dropping him gently on the ship before whipping into the gathered soldiers. 

Katara guided Appa to land on the deck, catching Aang as he crumpled. Seems like the glowy thing he did took a lot out of him. 

"Are you okay?" Katara worried. 

"Hey guys… thanks for coming." Aang smiled weakly. 

"Yeah, well…" Sokka shrugged, faux-smug. 

"I dropped my staff…" Aang began. Sokka rushed over before he finished. 

"Got it."

He snatched the staff up, already turning back to Aang once it was in his grip. Unexpectedly, it gave him some resistance. He tugged at it, turning to see what was holding it back.

Zuko's panicked yellow eyes stared back at him, trying to scramble up the side of the ship.

Sokka jerked the staff once more, sliding it out of Zuko's grasp. He slipped, grasping for a hold, but was falling away from the hull. 

"Shit, Zuko!"

Unthinkingly, Sokka dropped the staff, flinging his arm out to snag the firebender before he fell. Zuko grabbed hold, hands shaking, and pulled himself back up. 

"Sokka?! What are you doing?!" Katara's panicked voice brought him back to the present. Right. They were on opposite sides of this conflict. 

"Thank you…" Zuko whispered. Sokka's heart leapt, but he swallowed it back down.

"Don't mention it, seriously." 

He dived for the staff again, narrowly dodging his sister's uncoordinated waterbending freezing Zuko's feet in place as he did. 

The other soldiers had received similar treatment while he was distracted, frozen solid to the deck. Katara helped him into Appa's saddle, even as he shouted for the bison to take off.

"Yip-yip! Yip-yip!" 

Appa obediently took off, leaving the ship behind. Sokka watched as an older man swooped over, helping Zuko melt the ice around his boots. Appa had nearly cleared the looming glacier when the two sent a combined fire blast at the beast. 

So much for gratefulness… 

Aang easily swept the blast aside, sending it rocketing into the glacier, and sending the glacier rocketing into the Fire Navy vessel. Sokka held his breath for one awful second, watching the heavy snow bury the ship, and let out a heavy sigh of mixed relief and disappointment as all of the soldiers were unharmed. 

"That was a close one." Katara sighed. 

"Yeah… Hey, Sokka! How did you know that guy?"

Sokka grit his teeth, tension gripping him. Of course Aang wouldn't just leave it well enough alone. 

"Yeah, Sokka. How is it that you happen to be buddies with a Fire Nation soldier?"

"We're not  _ buddies _ ." Sokka argued.

"Aren't you? You seemed pretty buddy-buddy back there. Putting Aang in danger to rescue him and all."

"Hey, don't be so hard on him!" Aang waved his hands. "All life is sacred! I wouldn't want to see people die just to keep me safe!"

"Not the time, Aang." Katara snapped, still fuming at her brother. "When did you even meet him? You knew each other's names!"

"It's… a long story, okay, Katara? Maybe another time? When we're not running for our lives?"

"We're running  _ away _ from a  _ friend  _ of yours, apparently! I think now  _ is  _ the time!"

"Guys, seriously! Please don't fight on Appa!"

"I told you, he's not my friend! Not anymore, anyway…"

"And just  _ what  _ does that mean? I feel like I don't even know you anymore! This is a huge secret you've been keeping from me! And I don't even know how big! What's going on, Sokka?! Talk to me!"

Sokka winced. She made a point. He  _ had  _ been keeping this from everyone, and for this exact reason. 

"Okay. I'll tell you. But-!" He cut off whatever she was going to say next with a raised finger. "But you have to promise to listen quietly and not get mad at me."

"If you have to say that, you probably deserve for me to be mad at you…" Katara grumbled. 

"Ah, ah, ah!" Sokka shook the raised finger. "None of that!"

"Fine! Just tell us!" Katara threw her hands up, groaning. Aang turned himself around on Appa's head, trusting the bison to lead them. 

"Alright, then. It all started one night, seven whole years ago, just a little while after my eight birthday…"

He told the story Katara should have already known. How he'd had some sort of spirit dream, which led him to Zuko. How he'd told everyone his dream the next day, how that was why Katara had tried the ritual in the first place. How their parents had looked so scared when they heard about it, knowing he was tied to a Fire Nation noble.

"Wow! So that guy was a noble?! He didn't seem very fancy, though!" 

"He's not just a noble, though." Sokka chewed his lip, still fighting with himself over how much to tell them. "He's the crown prince." 

"Woah… hey, if your soulmate is a prince, that makes you kind of royalty, too, huh?" Aang grinned. Like the guy in question hadn't just attempted to kidnap him and turn him over to the Fire Lord. 

"I don't think that's how it works, Aang. Besides, I don't even know if he  _ is  _ my soulmate. There's no reason to just  _ believe  _ that soulmates exist, anyway." Aang's face fell at that. "And even if they do, I can't say from one spirit dream that he's definitely my soulmate or anything!" 

There it was. No lies of omission or anything, he'd cemented it. He'd officially lied to his sister about the guy. He hoped she didn't look too far into how he could possibly recognize the guy seven years later after one single meeting. 

"That's a crazy coincidence, though, Sokka! I guess the spirits have something really important planned for all of us!" Aang responded optimistically. 

"Of course they do." Katara said matter-of-factly. "You're the Avatar, after all. You're our only hope of ending the war, once and for all!" 

It was Aang's turn to tense up. He turned away, focussed on steering Appa suddenly. 

Katara looked guilty. "Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar? We could have done more to help, to keep you safe." 

"Because… I never wanted to be."

Sokka could get that. A destiny forced on him by the spirits that he never asked for? It wasn't the same, but it was awfully familiar.

\---

"So, nephew." Uncle stepped up behind Zuko as he watched his men clear the ship of piles of snow. As they dug, more fell from above. "You never told me you had a friend from around here. You must grace me with the details sometime." 

Zuko clenched his fists, steam sizzling from within them. "He's not a friend." 

"Ah, my mistake, then. It's just that you two seemed so friendly."

Zuko huffed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Very well, nephew. I will be in my room if you change your mind." 

Zuko watched him go, clenching his jaw. If he could talk to anyone about this, just to get it off his chest, it would be Uncle. This, though… this wasn't something he wanted to be out in the open. If he never talked about it, it wouldn't be quite  _ real.  _ He could still deny it, focus on his goal. 

No distractions. He couldn't afford to make any more mistakes. 


	4. The Warriors of Kyoshi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> theres a whole lot of my personal headcanons bc this fic is for dumping all my headcanons into so uhhhhh enjoy!!   
> i take nothing as canon except the original run show bc i never watched korra and i take issue w the comics

The Southern Air Temple was nothing like Aang had described. It was empty, the monks long dead, the sky bison and lemurs scattered, at best. The one lone survivor, the lemur, chittered as he scampered about the saddle. Sokka pretended not to notice the way Aang's eyes watered at Momo's antics. It was clear enough that he was remembering home. 

It was those watery eyes that had the siblings acquiescing to his ever detour. 

The boy had heard countless rumors about fun things to do, apparently. Despite insisting that every stop was 'on the way', their route meandered all around the southern islands, hopping from place to place and circling back and forth without any sort of pattern.

The stops weren't always even fun. The hogmonkeys, in particular, had been traumatizing. Momo had nearly been eaten, Katara had narrowly escaped her hair being torn out, and Aang had ended up with more scratches than healthy skin. 

Now, they were searching any islands with bays for giant koi fish. Aang couldn't even remember where he'd heard they lived, except for the shape of the island and that it was on the southern side of the Earth Kingdom. 

They'd had to stop in various townships to stock up on supplies, trading a few hours of work for a few days of food, and Katara was beginning to get antsy about reaching the Northern Water Tribe. 

Worse, Sokka got the distinct feeling half of these trips were just excuses to impress Katara, and that he was so hung up on the giant koi for that reason. 

So, here they were, flying into another bay of another island, when Aang finally spotted his quarry. 

"Look! There they are! That's what I've been looking for!"

The fish were even bigger than Sokka had envisioned. If a normal koi was the length of your forearm, a giant koi couldn't be more than, what, human-sized? 

These fish rivalled Appa in terms of sheer mass.

When the bison touched down on the shores, Aang had already begun to divest himself of his layered clothing. 

"Come on, Katara! You have to watch this!" 

\---

It was just Zuko's luck that they'd run into that damned Captain- no, Commander, now- when they needed to dock for repairs. His favorite pastime was to be a thorn in Zuko's side. He'd make snide remarks about how Zuko's mission was impossible, and shouldn't he give up already? He'd never had any honor to reclaim, anyway. Then he'd commandeer supplies from their vessel, claiming he'd be putting it to much better use, and citing some bullshit maritime emergency protocol to excuse it. Uncle had said that while the protocol didn't  _ technically  _ apply, they had no authority to fight him, anyway.

And now the bastard had been promoted.

Zuko grit his teeth, stretching out a sore shoulder from the Agni Kai the day before. Zhao was easy enough to defeat, completely lacking any control and throwing reckless attacks, leaving him with huge openings to exploit, but the duel itself had worn Zuko out. Soon, he told himself, the repairs would be done and they could finally be on their way. 

Not that he had any clue which way that was, to be fair. They couldn't ask any questions which might tip people off to their quarry, so they'd have to lay low and get creative. Where would they even start? 

Uncle would know, he reasoned. The old General had overseen enough of this war to have some experience. 

Zuko braced himself for the conversation, needing extra mental fortitude to endure the endless riddles. In times like these, he missed Sokka's ability to translate proverbs into normal human speech. 

Shaking that thought from his head, he knocked on Uncle's door. 

"Come in, come in, I'll have a pot of tea ready in a moment." Uncle's voice called from within. Zuko wondered if Uncle knew it was him, but knew the man would likely treat all the men on board the same way. 

He gently opened the door, unable to avoid the squeaking of the hinges, and let himself in. 

"Ah, Prince Zuko! To what do I owe the pleasure?" Uncle smiled warmly, indicating a cushion at the low table for Zuko to sit at. Zuko accepted the offer. 

"I wanted to ask for your advice on tracking the Avatar, Uncle." 

"Of course, of course. Ask away, then." Uncle warmed the pot gently, slowly, on a low fire, while he prepared leaves into a decorative steeper he must have just purchased at market, since Zuko didn't recognize it. 

"I'm not sure where to begin. We have no leads. I presumed you would have some experience with this."

"Indeed I do, my nephew. Although, it is not quite fair to say we do not have any leads. I heard something very interesting at the market this morning." He paused, pouring the light-colored tea into two small cups, placing one nearer to Zuko. Zuko accepted the cup, swallowing his impatience along with the beverage. "You see, it is not every day that one sees a bison soar through the air. Many find such a thing notable enough to chit-chat about during their morning shopping." 

"What?! Where?!" The low fire beneath the teapot surged with his excitement, flames licking up the sides of the pot. He took a deep breath to calm himself, returning the little fire to its former size, but the damage had already been done. Uncle peeked into the pot with a frown, seeing the tea instantly darkened, the leaves scalded.

"From what I could hear, the sailors spotted the creature on their way into port from the Earth Kingdom. Here, it will be easier to show you."

Uncle pulled out a map from a shelf nearby and unrolled it. He pointed to a spot on the map near where they were now. "This is where the bison was spotted." He slid the finger northeast. "And this is the direction he was flying. If we ask around here," he indicated a fishing village on the map, "we may hear something useful." 

"Then we know where to start. Thank you, Uncle." 

"Of course, nephew. Perhaps you'd like to come along next time, visit the market with me. Perhaps you may overhear something valuable, as well."

Zuko knew exactly the kinds of things he'd 'overhear' in the market. The common folk were rarely tight-lipped about their opinions, and he'd heard enough speculation about his face and 'training accidents' to last him a lifetime. 

"I'll consider it." 

\---

Riding the giant koi looked fun and all, but Sokka didn't think it was worth nearly being eaten by a sea monster  _ or  _ being captured and tied up in the town square, let alone both in quick succession. He tensed as his blindfold was removed, squinting into the sunlight while his eyes adjusted. 

They were surrounded by uniformed girls, none much older than he was, all ready with bladed fans. 

"Where are the men who ambushed us?" Sokka demanded, confused. 

"There are no men. We ambushed you." The girl in front, who bore a different headdress than the others, asserted. 

"But you're just a bunch of girls!" 

Sokka winced. That wasn't how he'd meant to phrase that. He was more surprised seeing the lack of any adults than by the gender of the teenagers. 

"The Unagi will eat well tonight." The girl threatened. 

Katara jumped in to defend and insult him in one breath and, when that didn't work, Aang revealed his identity as the Avatar. 

The mood shifted instantly. 

Sokka could get used to this kind of hero worship. Being friends with the Avatar apparently came with perks. A feast was thrown in their honor and the most luxurious rooms the village had to offer were theirs for the night. He and Katara were ready to move on as soon as they had their fill, maybe grab some things at the market, but Aang had found yet another distraction: the group of young girls who worshipped the ground he walked on. 

The village was strangely  _ full  _ of young girls. At least half the village was girls below the age of twenty, with most of them Aang's age or younger. Sokka wandered the village, seeing only a handful of adults and no young boys, until he happened upon a dojo. 

The leader of the uniformed squad was barking orders inside, to the time of shuffling feet. Sokka peeked around the corner of the sliding door, and saw the entire squad, in full garb, running kata in perfect unison. He whistled, impressed at their precision and timing, attracting the attention of the leader. 

She turned sharply, tassels swinging around her face, and glowered at the intruder. 

"This is a private training lesson, not a dance class. Get out."

Sokka tensed, guilty. "Look, I'm sorry for what I said yesterday-"

"That's nice. I'm busy." She turned away, barking at the squad to start at the top. 

"Please, I just want to apologize." 

She sighed heavily, waving to the other girls. They snapped their fans shut, relaxing their stances. The leader turned back around, lips pursed. 

"Fine. Go ahead." 

He bowed low, speaking to the floorboards. "I didn't mean to insult you, but I did. I was surprised. I shouldn't have been. You clearly work really hard to defend this village." 

"We do, thank you. Is that all?"

"No… I wanted to ask…" Sokka sat up, leaning back on his heels. "I don't have the kind of formal training that you all do. I was hoping that, as long as we're here, you could show me some things."

"Hmm." She cocked her head, tapping her fan against her painted lips. "Normally, we don't allow  _ boys  _ to train with us, you know." 

"I… understand."

"But." She sighed, sizing Sokka up. He sat up straight. "It would be against our code to deny aid to the Avatar where we can. Since you're traveling with him, protecting him, teaching you to fight will serve the greater good."

She turned over her shoulder, addressing the other girls, who had begun to whisper to one another. "What do you think, girls?"

A murmur swept through the crowd, before one girl spoke up. "We'll trust your judgement, Suki. As always."

The leader turned back to Sokka, offering her hand. He took it, letting her pull him to his feet. "You understand that while you train with us, you'll be required to follow all of our traditions?"

"Of course." Sokka readily agreed. "Whatever it takes."

"That's the spirit. Be here an hour before dawn tomorrow." 

"Yes, ma'am." He bowed, taking his leave of the dojo. The girls returned to their training immediately, Suki's voice ringing out orders as he wandered down the street toward the inn. 

Katara was purchasing supplies as he passed, and he waved her down. She looked to be in a sour mood. 

"Hey, Katara. What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. Why would anything be wrong? Everything's just peachy-keen!"

"Oookay?" Sokka scratched his head, confused. "Listen, I wanted to ask if it would be okay if we stuck around for a while." 

"Sokka…" There was acid in her voice. 

"Just a few days!" He hurriedly added, waving his hands defensively. "The girls that ambushed us agreed to train me. I figured it would be good for all of us if I was… well, if I could handle myself in a fight better." 

"Hmm." Katara looked like she didn't quite trust him. "Fine. Whatever. I'm sure  _ Aang  _ will be  _ so happy  _ to know we're spending more time here!" She bruised a zucchini as she slammed it into her basket. Sokka gulped. 

"Well, uh, okay… I'm gonna head back to the room now… gotta make sure I'm ready for whatever they're gonna throw at me tomorrow…" 

"You do that." Katara spat, icy. That was the tone that warned you that  _ you  _ would be icy soon if you didn't leave,  _ now.  _

He wondered what Aang could have done to piss her off. 

\---

The ship followed the rumors around various ports. Taking into account the general time of each sighting, the direction the bison seemed to be heading, and rumors about water tribe visitors to various markets, the crew was under orders to plot out the Avatar's path. Zuko asked Uncle to extrapolate a projected path and destination from the information gathered, and to report to him when he was finished. 

The firebender was full of nervous energy in the meantime, too worked up to train effectively or safely. After singeing a bit off of Lieutenant Jee's sideburns, Uncle had suggested he take some time to meditate while the others carried out their orders. Zuko had reluctantly acquiesced. 

He sat, legs crossed, before the small shrine in his quarters. Feeling the flames from the candles and the flames in his chest as one, he breathed deeply, steadily. In, and the flames dipped low, drawing into himself. Out, and the flames grew, the buzzing, nervous energy leaving his body, burning into smoke. In, drawing warmth into his chest. Out, pushing warmth into the cold, metal room. In, filling his lungs with the fuel for his fire. Out, putting that fuel to use. In- 

The hatch opened, creaking loudly. 

He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the intruder. "Uncle, you have news?" 

"You will not like it." Uncle warned. 

Out. 

"You are the one who taught me that a great leader can keep a level head even under the most stressful of circumstances. I can handle it."

"Very well. I've charted the Avatar's path, and I have no idea where he is."

"What?!" The candles burned brightly, the wax melting and burning away all at once, consumed with his anger. "How can that be?! What have you even been doing all this time?!" Zuko snatched the map out of Uncle's hands, unrolling it before him. Several notes were scratched at various points, darker symbols painted onto points where multiple eyewitness accounts aligned. The sightings were sporadic, with no sort of correlation or path immediately visible. Even Uncle could not piece out this puzzle. 

"Airbenders specialize in evasive maneuvering, I suppose…" This route was oddly reminiscent of the Avatar's fighting style, hopping and floating around the battlefield just as he hopped around the map. "Set a course towards his last known location. We'll pick up the trail one way or another."

\---

Unused to waking up early, or following times set by the sun more generally, Sokka was bleary-eyed and sluggish when he entered the dojo before daybreak. The girls were already dressed in their uniforms, painting their faces. 

"You're late!" Suki's voice barked from behind him. He yelped, tumbling forward onto the soft flooring. 

"Sorry." 

She smiled, holding out a uniform. "You're excused. This time. Get changed, then we'll show you how to apply the paints." She pointed out a decorative screen on one wall. "Girls? Give the boy some privacy." 

The girls all tittered, glancing his way as he sidled behind the screen. 

The uniform was nothing like he'd ever worn before, generally  _ avoiding  _ putting on dresses when he could, and it took him an embarrasingly long time to figure out how it all worked. After some struggling, Suki took pity on him, swinging around the screen to show him how the armor worked. 

"I won't do it for you, but I can demonstrate on my own." She explained. "It's important that you put on your own uniform. It symbolises taking on the responsibility of the role of your own free will. It  _ also  _ means that if you get injured, you'll be able to get  _ out  _ of your armor without help." 

Sokka nodded, watching her deft hands carefully and emulating the motions himself. The armor tightened, fitting oddly around his chest and hips, but it was functional enough. 

"Sorry for the fit." She looked genuinely apologetic. "For fully-fledged warriors, we usually make the armor custom. This is an old spare we had."

Sokka nodded. "I sort of… expected it to fit weirdly. Since, you know…" 

Suki hummed. "It's not unusual for us to have girls… shaped like you, you know." 

Sokka frowned. "What…?" 

She seemed to consider her next words carefully. "When I said we don't allow boys to join… Kyoshi herself believed that all one needs to be a woman is to understand oneself as a woman, so we believe the same. No matter the circumstances of that woman's birth."

"Oh." Sokka didn't really get it, but he nodded anyway. 

"Well, you're all dressed! Let's get you those paints."

Suki presented him with three pots, each containing an oily paint. They were similar enough to the war paints he'd used back home, and he applied them with expert ease. Suki seemed surprised and impressed, but didn't ask about it. 

"Like the uniform, the paints must be applied by each warrior herself. This part is less about safety and more about symbolism, though." She laughed, and Sokka couldn't help the dopey smile spreading across his face. 

He also couldn't help the vaguely guilty feeling gnawing at his gut. 

"Thanks for all the help, Suki. What's next?" 

Next, it turned out, was a salutation to the dawn. The warriors ran through stretches and kata from each of the four nations, out of respect for Kyoshi, who was an Avatar herself. The sturdy stances of earthbending, the shifting stances of waterbending, the fierce stances of firebending, the lithe stances of airbending. Already, Sokka felt muscles he'd never used before at work. 

They took a brief respite after, eating a simple meal together as a group. 

"Eating together promotes unity. It's a symbol of our community and the cohesion of our unit."

"And what does the rice symbolise?" Sokka joked. 

Suki laughed. "The rice is for fueling your muscles for the workout we're about to put you through. Try not to throw up."

The smile fell from Sokka's face. He really hoped she was joking.

She definitely wasn't joking. 

\---

Uncle's passive approach to information gathering again proved the most fruitful. Waiting in port for the soldiers to report, Zuko sat for a quiet breakfast with his uncle. The cook swept in with some fresh-caught salmon, and delivered news along with it. 

"There are rumors out of Kyoshi Island, sir. A boy claiming to be the Avatar landed there yesterday. I cannot say if he's still there, but…"

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?!" Zuko snapped, rising from the low table. "We need to set course immediately!" 

"Yes, sir." The cook bowed in apology. 

Uncle pointed at the steaming plate of fish. "Are you going to eat that?"

"Yes!" Zuko snatched the plate from him, snagging his bowl of rice as well before storming away to inform the helmsman. 

\---

After a long, brutal day, Sokka sat with Suki watching the sun set on the little village. He hadn't thrown up, after all, but he was pleasantly exhausted in the way that guaranteed he'd be unpleasantly sore the following day, even ignoring the bruises sure to be blooming soon. 

"You learn fast." Suki complimented. Sokka preened. 

"Oh, really?" 

She laughed. "Don't get a big head. It was hard enough to find a headband that would fit you." 

Sokka held a hand to his chest. "Ah! I'm hurt! Genuinely hurt! How could you wound me like this?" 

Suki laughed, elbowing him in the side. Sokka couldn't help but join in. It was comfortable, easy… 

Suki leaned against his arm and that guilty feeling came gnawing back at him. 

She must have felt his tension, because she drew away, sitting upright once more. "Sorry." She murmured. 

"No, no, you don't need to-" Sokka sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. I just… have a lot on my mind."

A weak smile tugged at her lips. "You didn't strike me as the deep-thinking type."

"I'm full of surprises! A man of many talents, if you will." 

"Hmm." She rolled her eyes playfully. 

Sokka scrambled to change the subject, hating being so hung up on Zuko when there was a pretty girl clearly interested in him right here. 

"So… where's all the adults?"

"Hmm?"

"In the village, there's… I dunno, it seems like not enough adults to have this many kids running around. And all girls, too."

A laugh bubbled out of Suki's chest. "I guess I didn't realise… you really hadn't heard of Kyoshi Island, huh?" 

Sokka shook his head. "Not a lot of news travels all the way to the south pole." 

She hummed again. "Kyoshi Island isn't your average village. It's specifically here for training warriors."

"What? Really?"

She nodded. "People from all over the Earth Kingdom send their daughters here to train. It has the added benefit of keeping us safe from the war while we're here. I came here when I was eight, and I've been training here since." 

"And you haven't seen your family in all that time?"

She shook her head, looking down. She picked her gloves. 

"Where are they? Where are you from?"

"A little farming village. Near a Fire Nation colony. When the war started heating up, the soldiers at the colony got antsy. Mom didn't want me to get caught up in it."

"I'm sorry. That sounds tough." 

"Yeah, but it means I get to be here. After the older warriors left to defend their own homes, I was left as the leader. It's a big responsibility, but… it's worth it."

Sokka knew something about responsibility. "I was the only warrior left in my village after the men left to join the war front." He chewed his lip, feeling a weight settle on his chest. "I left them all defenseless when I left with my sister and Aang, though. I abandoned my duty."

Suki nudged him with her shoulder. "You didn't abandon anything. One untrained teenager isn't much of a defense, anyway." 

"Gee, thanks." 

"What I  _ meant  _ was… you didn't abandon your duty. You picked up a new one. If the Avatar doesn't succeed, you won't have much of a village to defend, anyway."

Sokka let all of the air escape him. He ran a hand along his hair. "Way to put pressure on a guy." 

"Sorry." Suki stood gracefully, extending a hand to him. "Let's get you as much training as we can. The more I can teach you, the better you can perform your duty."

\---

The ship pulled into the small bay smoothly. Zuko gripped the reigns of his komodo-rhino. With luck, the Avatar would still be here. 

Luck was rarely on his side. 

The hatch swung open, the ramp descending to the beach below. The moment it touched down, Zuko prodded his mount along swiftly, the rest of the landing party following suit. 

The beasts surged forward, claws digging into the soft sand, tails sliding curving patterns behind them. 

The sandy path swirled before them, shifting to rock a short ways up through the bare trees. The komodo-rhinos' claws clicked and scratched, tap-tapping a rythm to their advance. 

\---

Training the next morning had to be cut short early. A Fire Navy vessel had been spotted in the bay, and Sokka had a sinking feeling he knew which one. 

The Kyoshi Warriors, along with Sokka, spread out around the village. The villagers took refuge inside their homes and businesses, watching fearfully out of their doors for encroaching soldiers. 

Sokka heard them before he saw them. 

The shuffling of heavy, clawed feet drew ever closer, broken by the shouting of a familiar voice into the still air. 

"Find the Avatar!" Zuko ordered. 

Sokka gripped his borrowed fans tightly. 

The other warriors used the opportunity, as the komodo-rhinos put distance between one another to canvas the village, to unseat the soldiers. In the chaos, Suki sprinted towards Zuko, hanging back from the rest of the group. Sokka surged after her, trying to shout a warning of some sort, but only making it as far as shouting her name before several bursts of flame seared towards her. She deftly dodged, but was too slow for the swining tail of his mount. 

Sokka caught up, putting his body between Suki and Zuko, failing to fall into any sort of fighting stance.

He could tell the moment Zuko recognized him. 

The firebender's shoulders fell, his eyes widened. "Sokka…?" He murmured, nearly a whisper. 

A third warrior swooped in from the roof above, unseating him and tossing him to the ground. She smacked the komodo-rhino with the flat of her bladed fan, and the beast sped away. 

Suki returned to her feet swiftly. "You know him, Sokka?" She murmured. 

"You can say that." 

Zuko groaned, eyes narrowed. He attempted to push himself to his feet, but three pairs of fans were suddenly leveled on him. The girl (whose name Sokka hadn't learned just yet) rushed forward, tying Zuko's wrists together with a ribbon deftly. 

"Wait!" Sokka shouted. "Don't do that, he attacks with his-"

As expected, Zuko kicked out a blast of fire from the soles of his feet, sending Suki flying and wrenching himself out of the other girl's grasp. Sokka, expecting the attack, narrowly avoided it, only to be faced with a smoking fist inches from his face. 

"You can't keep him from me! You know what this means to me!" Zuko shouted, sparks flying from between his teeth. 

"And  _ you  _ know we can't just give him up like this!" Mindless of how reckless it was, Sokka surged forward, knocking Zuko back with open palms against his chest. The firebender dropped his fist. 

"Why not?! What difference will it even make?! My father's as good as won already!"

"Exactly!" Sokka shouted back, just as vehement. "He's the last hope we have!"

"He's the only hope  _ I  _ have!"

"No, Zuko!" Sokka fought the tears trying to form. Zuko's own wet eyes didn't make it any easier. "You make your  _ own _ hope, Zuko! That guy can't define for you what your hope  _ is! _ " 

The fight left Zuko's shoulders. 

"Come join us. Help us fix this, fix everything. You aren't as helpless as you think, Zuko."

Zuko's eyebrows furrowed, face tensing into a grimace. He squeezed his eyes shut against the tears threatening to come. The war in his heart threatened to tear him apart. 

"Sokka?! What are you doing?!" Katara's voice rang from a nearby home, shielding the villagers within with her body, and the moment was gone. 

Smoke billowed from Zuko's nose as he exhaled, shifting into a fighting stance once more. Sokka staggered back, clumsily gripping the unfamiliar fans, but nowhere near fast enough to block the flames licking toward him. 

At the last moment, a gust of wind knocked the fire off course, careening into the nearest building. Aang drew Zuko's ire, allowing Sokka to meet up with Katara and rush to ready Appa. 

The bison was more than ready to take off, having already lumbered out of the stables and toward the commotion. Sokka retrieved his bag from inside the dojo, throwing it up to Katara, who caught it neatly. 

"Wait!" Suki's voice shouted from behind him. She held her side gingerly, still aching from Zuko's attack. "Before you go!" 

"What is it?" 

She rushed forward, grabbing him by the face. Before he could react, she pressed her lips to his cheek in a quick kiss. "Be safe, okay? And remember your duty!"

"Sokka! Let's go!" Aang had been sent off by a couple of the warriors towards the group. He neatly landed in the saddle, dropping his glider before climbing onto Appa's wide head. 

"I will." Sokka assured her, dashing up the bison's tail. "You be safe, too." 

"I will!"

"Yip-yip!" Aang sent Appa quickly into the air, speeding away from the little village and towards the open sea, passing Zuko's ship on the way. 

Sokka began to wipe the paint from his face, smearing into the singed and dirty sleeve of his borrowed uniform. He hoped they'd get a chance to clean and repair it at some point. It was a good memory. 

His train of thought was instantly derailed by the sight of Aang dropping recklessly into the waves below. 

"What does he think he's doing?!" His voice cracked in his panic, leaning half his body over the side of the saddle in an attempt to see where the boy had landed. 

The Unagi, the great sea monster of the bay, reared its enormous head, and Sokka's stomach dropped.

But there, tiny against the sheer mass of the sea serpent, was Aang, clutching a whisker for dear life. Impossibly, the boy wrangled the monster, aiming its breath of water to rain on the burning village.

They may not be able to save everybody, but damned if Aang wouldn't do everything in his power to try. 

Appa caught the boy midair after the Unagi finally managed to fling him off, and Sokka was at last able to let out the breath he'd been holding. 

"I know, I know." Aang rolled his eyes as he climbed into the saddle. "That was stupid and dangerous."

Katara rushed to give him a hug. "It was. It was also very brave." 

Sokka made exaggerated gagging motions where neither of them could see him, too wrapped up in one another to notice. 

\---

Zuko slammed every door on the way to his quarters that he could, ignoring every crew member that tried to talk to him, especially his uncle. He threw himself onto his mattress and screamed into the pillow.

He was well aware that he was acting like a petulant teenager right now. He certainly felt like one. 

After all that work to hunt down the Avatar, and he's immediately distracted when he finds him! Again! 

It was awful, how easily he recognized the Water Tribe boy, even through his disguise. The hair, the expression, the way he carried himself… Zuko didn't know when he started paying attention to those things, but he had an awful suspicion it was around the time of their  _ second-ever meeting.  _

And his eyes, those awful, expressive, ocean-blue eyes, the color he could never escape, banished and confined to this ship, cursed to roam the very seas which reflected those eyes. 

Seeing tears gathered in those damned eyes had torn him apart, stripped his defenses, rendered all of his resolve meaningless. 

Was he tempted by his words? Or was he only tempted by the sweet promise in those deep blue eyes? 

Zuko took to throwing things across his room, smashing them against the metal wall, instead. Allowing himself to think was torture. 

A knock at the door. "Prince Zuko, perhaps consider  _ against  _ destroying what precious little decorates your room, hmm?" Uncle's voice advised. 

"Leave me!" Zuko ordered. The temperature in the room sweltered. He imagined he'd even affected the fires in the boiler room with the sheer heat of his rage. 

"It would be irresponsible of me to leave you in such a state. Please, come out. There must be something we can do to calm you."

"No, Uncle!" Zuko kicked over the low table in the center of the room. "I don't want your damn  _ tea,  _ I don't want your damn  _ proverbs,  _ and I don't want your damn  _ coddling!" _

"Very well." He waited until he heard the distinctive sound of Uncle's feet shuffling away before throwing himself onto his bed again. 

\---

"Sooo… Suki, huh?" Katara asked as Kyoshi Island faded into the distance. 

"Yep." Sokka shrugged. 

"Well, aren't you the ladies man." 

"Guess I am. Can't keep their hands off of me." 

"Riiight. And what was the deal with Zuko back there? Didn't you say you were 'totally not friends'?" Katara said, emphasizing with air quotes. 

"We're not, seriously. That was… look, he's a stubborn guy. I figured, maybe we put a little doubt in his head. Maybe make it so he won't wanna chase us anymore. Get him to see our side of things. No big deal." Sokka waved a wrist lazily, demonstrating how not a big deal it was. Katara wasn't convinced. 

"So you weren't serious with the whole 'Oh, you should join us, Zuko! Come with us on our adventure! I don't care that you've tried to kill us or anything!' thing?" She put on a swooning-romance-heroine voice for his parts. He didn't appreciate it. 

"Hey, I don't sound like that!"

"What's this about Zuko joining us?" Aang swiveled around, face in his hands, elbows on his knees. 

"It's nothing, Aang. Katara's just trying to get my piggoat." 

"I think it's a great idea!"

"You do?" Both siblings responded in unison. 

"Yeah! I'm gonna need a firebending teacher eventually, right? Why not him? I feel like we could be friends someday! I mean, he's already friends with Sokka and all!"

Sokka grumbled, "We're not friends…" at the same time as Katara shouted, "Absolutely not! That's beyond reckless, Aang! You saw what he did back there, just to get to you!" 

Aang drooped. "Yeah… I guess you're right. I just hate the thought of fighting someone with no chance of peace." 

Sokka was horribly aware that Aang wasn't just talking about Zuko anymore. This whole war was against his pacifistic nature, and he was expected to spearhead it. 

"I know, buddy." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am  
> so sorry  
> for zukos eyes related rant  
> but in my defense  
> it was midnight  
> and i was in a hyperfocus writing trance  
> also: the song going under by evanescence is the theme for zukos breakdown


	5. The Spirit World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one goes a bit more into spirit world shenanigans so  
> i hope it makes sense???  
> edit: now with chapter art!

"I'm telling you guys, it wasn't rock candy!" Sokka insisted. 

"What? But we saw him eat it!" Aang protested. 

"Like I said, when they put those rings on us, I tried to bite it off. It just tasted like rock!" 

"Why do you insist on putting everything in your mouth, Sokka? It's a wonder you haven't died yet." Katara chided. She raised a hand to her neck, miming the way she would normally play with the pendant before realizing her fingers closed on thin air. 

"Quit it, Katara. You won't have any skin left if you keep rubbing at your neck like that." Sokka snapped. Katara wrenched her hands away, holding them in her lap.

"I know! It's just… ugh, my neck feels so _naked_ without it!" She complained. "And knowing it's still in a Fire Nation prison of all places… I can't stop worrying about it!" 

"Well, sometimes we have to leave things behind when we're literally on the run." Sokka reminded her pragmatically. She glared at him. 

"Hey, guys, look at this!" Aang called out. They tore their attention from bickering to see what Aang was showing them. 

He opened his glider, spinning loop-de-loops around Appa as they flew through the clouds. Sokka rolled his eyes. He appreciated the attempt, but it was too transparent. 

"That's great, Aang." Katara's voice lacked its usual enthusiasm. The airbender frowned, leveling out the glider and continuing on ahead. 

"Listen, Katara… I know you're upset about losing Mom's necklace, but-"

"Then why are you being such a jerk about it?!" Katara snapped back.

"I'm not being a jerk! I'm just being sensible! We don't have time to get hung up on anything-"

"Oh, so now missing my only memento of _our mother_ is being 'hung up on nothing'?!"

"I didn't say-"

"Hey, guys, look!" Aang interrupted. 

"Not the time, Aang!" Katara snapped. 

"No, but really! You guys have to see this!" The worried tone in the boy's voice was what finally convinced them to listen. The clouds had thinned, revealing more of the land beneath them. Unlike the rolling green and yellow fields they'd seen so far in the Earth Kingdom, the earth here was scorched gray, ash blanketing the entire area, and only charred sticks remained out of what must have once been a dense forest. 

"Oh, no…" Katara covered her mouth with a hand, eyes going wide. 

"Fire Nation." Sokka spat. "No one else could have done this." 

He guided Appa to follow Aang as the airbender descended to the ash-cloaked ground. The Avatar had sunken to his knees the moment he landed, scooping handfuls of ash into his hands. The first to make it over to him was Momo, settling into his lap and warbling. A tight smile tugged at Aang's lips, and he brushed his hands off to stroke the lemur fondly. 

Katara slid from Appa's saddle gracefully, striding across the space to reach Aang's side, deep footprints packing into the ash behind her. She leaned down to place a warm hand on his narrow shoulder. He lifted a hand to cover hers. 

"I was gone for so long… I let everyone down. This wouldn't have happened if I had been around to do my job as the Avatar." Aang murmured. Sokka couldn't argue. He held his tongue. 

"You know what I think?" Katara smoothed her dress beneath her knees, kneeling down to get on the same level as the airbender. "I think you are exactly where and when you need to be." 

"What?! How can that be possible? So much bad stuff's happened without me!" 

"Bad stuff happens all the time, everywhere, and even you can't be everywhere at once." She said softly. Sokka winced.

"Gee, thanks for reminding me." Aang drew his knees up so he could bury his face in them. 

"What I mean is, you can't focus all the time on what you can't do, or what you didn't do. You have to focus on what you _can_ do." She takes a deep breath, thinking over her words before she continues. "I really think that here, in this time, at this place, is where you're _supposed_ to be. I think here and now might be the best time for you to do some good." 

"What makes you say that?" Aang grumbled, but he was looking up into Katara's eyes hopefully. 

She held out a hand, closed into a fist. Aang held his out beneath hers unquestioningly. She opened her palm, allowing something small and round to drop into his hand. 

"An acorn?" Aang peered at the little seed suspiciously. 

"There are a lot of them around here. The trees that were already here may be gone, but their legacy lives on. Someday, this forest will grow back, just as beautiful as it once was."

"Yeah… there's still life here." He said, a little wistfully. 

"And there _wouldn't_ be, if the generation before hadn't hidden away the new generation, ready to sprout as soon as the danger's passed." She said, emphasizing her words oddly. Aang just looked confused, before his eyebrows raised in surprise. 

"Oh! Like me! I get what you're saying now!"

"Exactly!" Katara clapped her hands, a little cloud of ash puffing out. 

"It's a tactical advantage." Sokka finally chipped in. "Barely anyone knows you're alive, so we have the element of surprise on our side. A lot of people think you're just a legend. On top of that, nobody who's still alive and fighting today knows how to go up against an airbender. You've seen how Zuko fights, he has no idea what you're capable of. And I'm sure the rest of the Fire Nation's the same way." 

Aang frowned, hand clenched around the acorn in his palm, considering the siblings' encouraging words. He hummed noncommittally. "I guess that makes sense. I mean, it's still not good, what's happened to the world, but… it's not all bad, either."

"That's the spirit." Sokka clapped Aang gently on the shoulder. The boy's smile was a little stronger now. 

"Excuse me." An unfamiliar voice called out from the woods nearby. The trio all squawked, startled. 

"Who are you? Where did you come from?" Sokka demanded. 

"My boy, you're an airbender, aren't you?" The voice belonged to an old man, approaching slowly from the healthier trees. 

"I am." Aang readily divulged. 

"Then are you, perhaps, the Avatar?" He asked tentatively. 

Aang looked to Katara for permission. She'd been the one to suggest they lay low, after what happened on Kyoshi Island. She nodded, so Aang turned to the man and did the same. 

"Please, Avatar, my village needs your help." 

Never one to turn away anyone who needed him, Aang readily agreed. "Sure thing! Where is your village?"

"Follow me. It's not far."

\---

The Avatar had grown significantly easier to track after they had fled Kyoshi Island, opting to simply put as much space between themselves and Zuko as possible, rather than throwing off the trail. Omashu had been wreckage by the time they arrived, and Zuko couldn't imagine what sort of fierce battle had done that kind of widespread damage to the city, but the rumors confirmed the appearance of the flying bison and the trio of teenagers onboard. 

From there, they had ostensibly left due West, and rumors along the way confirmed more sightings in that direction. When they chanced upon the site of a recent prison break, several displaced Fire Nation soldiers scrambling to resume their duties somehow, Zuko knew the Avatar had to have been behind it. The soldiers told him about a waterbending girl and a prisoners' rebellion. He sent his men out onto the prison barge, ordering them to search for any clues they could find. 

A flash of blue had caught his eye. He retrieved it, gently catching the light of the setting sun on its masterfully carved grooves. Sokka's mother's necklace, inherited by Katara after her passing.

Zuko wrapped it around his wrist for safekeeping. A sentimental part of him wanted to make sure it wasn't lost here forever. A more practical part of him knew he wouldn't be giving it back. 

"Where did they go from here?" Zuko demanded of a nearby guard. He pointed off in a vaguely northern direction. 

"That way. There's a trading post that way they may have been headed to?" He said uncertainly. "It's known to attract, uh, unsavory types, though." 

"That's enough. Let's move." Zuko rounded up his men, directing them back to the ship. "Get me the helmsman, we've got a course." 

\--- 

As promised, the village was relatively nearby. Having spent so much time in the bison's saddle, Sokka was almost glad for the chance to stretch his legs. 

It was immediately evident the extent of the trouble the village was facing the moment they arrived. Several buildings had been destroyed in some unnatural way, leaving much of the village uninhabitable. 

The villagers, gathered in the town hall for safety, explained to the group that a dangerous spirit had taken up residence after the Fire Nation had passed through, leaving the village unsafe. They pleaded with Aang to do something about it and, despite having little experience with the spirit world, the Avatar agreed to help. 

Watching him stand out at the village gates, Sokka couldn't help but feel like he himself might be more suited to this task than anyone else here. 

Aang shouted into the forest and slammed his staff down decisively, then relaxed into his usual posture. He turned around, wandering back towards the town hall, shrugging. 

By the time he noticed the Hei Bai, it was too late. 

Sokka gripped the windowsill in fear, tension locking his jaw. Aang was tossed around by the spirit like he was nothing, a fly-bee buzzing just near enough to be annoying. 

Luckily, his quick airbending reflexes mitigated most of the damage, but Sokka noticed him quickly wearing down, covered in little scratches from debris and out of breath. 

Unthinking, Sokka hopped out through the window, charging over to where Aang stood, arms in the air, still trying to talk to the Hei Bai. Katara shouted after him, but he'd made up his mind. 

"Aang, I'm here with you, buddy." 

"Sokka! Don't hurt him, I don't want to fight unless-" 

Aang looked like the air had been knocked out of him as a hand closed around Sokka's middle. 

"Shit! Aang!" Sokka called, the spirit charging off with him in its grip, too fast for Aang to run after.

The airbender snapped open his glider, sprinting and leaping after them. He matched pace with the spirit for a long ways, both racers ending up deep into the forest and coming out the other end. The trees no longer an obstacle, Aang was able to pick up enough speed to finally reach the Hei Bai, then further to grasp at Sokka's hand. 

"Sokka! I've got you!" Aang called. 

He didn't. Not really.

The feeling as Aang's hand grew incorporeal, sliding through his fingers while the scenery shifted slowly around him, was viscerally familiar. Finally, the Avatar disappeared, Sokka still firmly in the spirit's grasp. 

This is it, he thought. I'm gonna be dinner. What a way to go. 

The Hei Bai continued to race through the woods, trees zipping past at a fast clip, when he suddenly stopped. Sokka twisted around in his grip to see what was happening, where they were, and saw a familiar golden coat, atop eight thin legs, and couldn't move enough to see the familiar spirit's familiar face. 

It huffed, stamping its slender hooves, and the Hei Bai spirit dropped him to the ground. Another huff from his spirit guide, and the Hei Bai raced away, fading quickly into the distance. 

"Hey, thanks." Sokka patted himself off, finally getting a good look at the place. 

This should have been around where the ash-coated, scarred earth was on the mortal plane, but here, there were thick trees. 

That's not to say the trees here weren't completely abnormal, though. They definitely were. Gnarled, spiraling, twisting in on themselves, and, most notably, thorned. Huge, thick thorns, as long as his hand, and devilishly sharp covered every inch of every plant. He wondered how he'd managed to scrape by without any, well, scrapes, but the moment his elbow bumped a branch, it crumbled to ash. 

"What happened to this place…" Sokka murmured. 

His spirit guide stepped closer. Sokka was startled to find he'd grown so much taller compared to the spirit than he remembered. If he reached up, he could almost reach the base of it's neck with his fingers. The spirit bent its huge head down, nudging its own forehead against Sokka's. 

A memory, not his own, flashed through his mind. 

A Fire Nation tank, flanked by three komodo-rhinos, marched through the forest. The soldiers, faces covered by the skull-like plates, sent waves of fire before them, into the trees. While the trees of the mortal plane were eaten up into ash, the trees of the spirit world twisted into the shapes he had just seen. 

The memory ended. The spirit pulled away.

"Woah. What was that? Was that… your memory?" 

The spirit nodded, its circular horns dipping, leaves sprouting from them rustling in the slight breeze the movement created.

"Weird." Sokka looked around. "Man, I wonder what we're gonna do about this…" 

The spirit began to dip its head again. Sokka held up his hands. 

"No, no, it's okay. I know Aang's taking care of it." He did wonder where the Avatar went, though. He wasn't a big fan of having been left here. 

Speaking of which…

"Hey, where have you been, anyway? You didn't show up for like, what, two? Three years? What's that all about?" Sokka put his fists to his hips, raising an eyebrow at the spirit. Obediently, it dipped his head. 

This time, he allowed it. 

It showed him memories of Zuko now, living on his small Fire Navy vessel. It showed him the prince on the deck in the middle of the night, dark bags under his eyes, barking out orders Sokka couldn't hear. It showed him resting, finally, in his room, only to be startled awake by nightmares, sweating, panicked, panting. It showed him kneeling by a game board, tea in hand, and slowly nodding off, his kind uncle gently taking the cup from him and draping a soft blanket around his shoulders, encouraging the rare moment of rest, even if it was in the middle of the afternoon. 

The spirit pulled away. 

"He really hasn't been sleeping… that much?" A humorless chuckle escaped his chest. "No wonder he's so cranky, am I right?" 

The spirit blinked slowly at him, those brilliant green eyes watching him carefully. He cleared his throat. 

"Well, I know that, before, when you visited, you kept me from having nightmares. Why can't you do the same for him?" 

Sokka was ready for the flood of memory this time, tilting his head up to meet the spirit's touch. 

What he was not ready for was for the memory to be his own.

Like all those years ago, he saw Zuko crouched on the floor of his enormous (princely) bedroom, clutching at his hair, panicked because he was unable to perform a fire kata on command (they hadn't figured out yet that bending wasn't possible here in the spirit world). He had reached out to help, but had been shaken away, Zuko trapped in a memory of his father, thinking Sokka's small, gloved hand was his father's burning palm. 

The memory ended. 

"What…? Wait, how does that answer my question?!" Sokka huffed. The spirit just blinked at him again.

He groaned. "Gonna make me _think_ about it. Okay, fine." 

That memory… it was one of his least favorite. Feeling completely useless like that when his friend was clearly so in need of some sort of help? And then, before he could even find the right words, he'd woken up, expelled from the dream like a bucket of cold water had been poured on him.

Wait.

Was that it?

That had been the only visit where he had not been led back home before waking up. Even when he'd been forcibly dragged back, he had to follow the spirit back home. Back to his body. But that time…

It had been as though the dream itself had just spat him out. There had been no transition, just dreaming and then… not. 

"You couldn't bring me to him even when we were both asleep at the same time because… what? He was scared?" 

The spirit huffed, tilting its head. 

"You know, this would be a lot easier if you would just talk to me." Sokka complained.

The spirit opened its mouth and let out a low grunting, a purely animal noise. 

"Oh. You can't. Sorry." Sokka felt a bit embarrassed. "So, you can't lead me to him when he's emotional or stressed or whatever. Is that what you're getting at?" 

It tilted its head, then nodded once. 

"Ha, was that you saying 'close enough'?" Sokka grinned. The spirit nodded again. "Ha! Alright, alright. Well, what about right now? Let me guess, not sleeping?" The memory of their current situation punched its way into Sokka's consciousness. "Working overtime trying to find the Avatar, probably." 

The spirit turned away from him. Sokka tilted his head curiously. It turned its head back to look at him, then nodded in its familiar 'follow me' gesture.

Sokka obliged, curiously. 

\---

Iroh had rarely regretted a nice, long soak in a hot spring in his life, but this time surely made the list. Ostrich-horses were not well-suited for carrying prisoners, and he'd been jammed into a saddle built for one behind a very unlucky Earth Kingdom soldier. The journey was long, the roads winding, and Iroh questioned these soldiers' judgement, thinking they could haul him all the way across the kingdom without any sort of proper transportation. Ba Sing Se, after all, was no short distance from Prince Zuko's ship. 

Still, it had been an eventful ride, despite its length. Shortly before dawn, after he'd abandoned a sandle to the road to help lead his nephew down the right path, he saw a peculiar sight. 

It was rare that spirits lingered in-between this world and their own, after all, and even more rare for a human to be there, especially one who was clearly not the Avatar. 

The loping strides of the Jin Lu took it dancing across the ostrich-horses, who seemed to tense, but did not spook. They were well-trained, it seemed. Iroh was ready to call it an oddity, the graceful spirit merely taking a strange stroll, until he saw a familiar boy trailing behind it, dodging around the ostrich-horses even though he could not possibly run into them, in-between worlds as he was. The Water Tribe boy jogged to catch up, the Jin Lu not pausing to wait for him as it continued on, its eight long legs taking slow but long strides which far outpaced a human's. Iroh chuckled.

"What's so funny?" One of his guards demanded. 

"Oh, I just remembered an excellent joke. Would you like to hear it?"

"No." Came the blunt reply. 

"Really? It is really quite funny, I'm sure you would love it." He insisted, playing up the doddering old man angle. 

"No way, old-timer. You can keep your Fire Nation jokes to yourself."

Iroh snorted. What a thing to get stubborn about. Ah, youth. "Suit yourself, then."

The travel continued in silence for a long while, the day stretching on, finally broken up just past midday as another strange sight appeared. 

Two spirits lingering in-between in one day? And both with a human companion? At least this one actually _was_ the Avatar. 

Again, the ostrich-horses tensed. Iroh smirked, seeing an opportunity. 

"You know, my old joints are feeling a bit sore and achy…"

\---

The spirit wasn't moving any faster than it normally would, but Sokka was finding it hard to keep up. He supposed it was lucky that spirit-world shenanigans didn't leave him tired or thirsty or even hungry, but the pace left much to be desired. 

They traveled a great distance, passing by a caravan of Earth Kingdom soldiers astride ostrich-horses, and Sokka almost lost pace with the spirit as he recognized their prisoner. 

Zuko's uncle was stark naked for some reason, and thoroughly shackled. Sokka had to laugh. Had they never dealt with a skilled bender before? The old man certainly didn't need his hands free to deal a whallop. Not that he could warn the soldiers now, though. He'd realized long ago that in this weird spirit world place, or dream zone, or whatever, normal people couldn't see him. Them. Zuko's guards could walk right past, or through him, and never be any wiser to it.

He'd found it fun, when they were younger, like he was part of a big secret. The mischievous part of him loved doing secretive things.

Now, the secrets weighed on him, vicelike, making him stressed and paranoid. 

The ostrich-horses passed on, Zuko's uncle chattering about something inane to mess with his guards. 

Sokka's spirit guide continued forward. 

A long while later, they reached their destination. Zuko charged forward on his komodo-rhino, looking tense, dark bags under his eyes. Sure enough, he hadn't slept last night. Sokka hated being right, sometimes. 

The prince spotted something in the road that had him pulling his mount to a stop, descending to investigate. Sokka bit back a laugh as Zuko sniffed the sandal, looking disgusted with the smell. 

"Yeah, that's Uncle Iroh, all right…" 

The spirit kept pace with the komodo-rhino for a while, Sokka jogging to keep up. Zuko pushed on at a relentless pace, desperate to rescue his uncle. Unfortunately, by Sokka's estimate he wasn't going much faster than those Earth Kingdom soldiers, and certainly wouldn't be able to catch up any time soon with their sizable lead. 

Sokka noticed Appa pass by before Zuko did, and was relieved for a moment, thinking Aang was looking for him. That relief was doused by chilly fear in an instant, though, seeing Zuko tug the reigns of his mount to give chase. 

"No!" Sokka shouted in frustration, knowing full well his voice wouldn't reach the other.

Still, Zuko reconsidered. 

He tugged the reigns back towards the road ahead, returning to his original mission to save his uncle. 

Sokka watched him grow smaller down the road, shocked into stillness. On some level, he shouldn't be surprised Zuko chose saving his uncle over the chance to capture Aang, but on the other…

Zuko prioritized capturing Aang over _everything_ right now, pushing aside anything and everything that could possibly stand in the way of that mission. Nothing took precedence, not his own safety, not the safety of his oldest friend, and surely not the safety of his uncle. 

He remembered the way Zuko talked about Iroh, when they were younger and still on good terms. Some days, he'd gush about the older man, like he was a second father to him. A better father, surely, though his own son, Lu Ten, took priority. Other days, though, he chastised him for his 'weakness', that robotic tone taking over his voice, like he was repeating what someone else (usually his father, sometimes Azula) had said to him, and was trying to make himself believe it. 

The older firebender could surely take care of himself, and Zuko seemed to resent the kind of 'weakness' that he represented, if you considered patience and compassion to be weaknesses. 

So this, now… this was a surprise. 

"Guess he hasn't changed as much as I thought…" Sokka murmured, chewing at his lip. His spirit guide tilted its head to look him in the eye, unblinking. "Was that what you wanted me to see?" 

The spirit nodded. 

"Huh. Well, thanks, I guess. Now I'm even more confused about all of this." He spun his hands around, miming the tangling of his thoughts. "Why couldn't you let me accept that he's just gone totally evil and that I should give up? I was ready to, you know!"

The spirit nodded. Oh. 

"You wanted to make sure I didn't." Another nod. "Something's important about us staying on good terms." Another nod. "Having to guess what you're trying to get at like this takes forever." A huff, and the spirit began to walk off, down the road once more. "Hey! Wait up!" 

Sokka jogged after it, its long legs pulling it quickly across the distance. They sped past Zuko and his komodo-rhino, then past the Earth Kingdom caravan, where Iroh had begun to stage an escape, and onward, back towards the forest they started in. 

Night fell as they at last breached the trees, the spirit leading him to a warped bamboo grove. 

"What? Where are we now?" 

His spirit guide leaned down, but did not share a memory, as before. Instead, it nudged him forward. 

"Hey! Not so rough! I get it, I get it, I'm going!" 

Pushing aside the thick, knotted bamboo, he found himself inside the twisted grove. An odd, dense fog drifted around, but only inside the perimeter of the bamboo, and three human figures wandered aimlessly within. 

He turned back to his guide in an unspoken question, but the spirit was already gone. 

Huh, weird. 

"Hey, do any of you know what's going on?" He asked to the indistinct figures. A woman's voice yelped in surprise. 

"Stay- stay back! I don't want to fight you, but I will!" A man's voice followed, shaky. 

"Hey, hey, no need for that! I'm just as confused as you are." Sokka stepped towards the figures, until the dense fog no longer obscured them. "Hi."

"Oh, it's just a boy." The woman sighed in relief, holding a hand to her heart. 

"You gave us quite the scare there, kid." The third person, another man, chastised. 

"Sorry, sorry." Sokka held up his hands disarmingly. "Did you guys get scooped up by the Hei Bai, too?" He asked. 

Nods all around. "I've been here for days." The woman admitted. "The monster only comes back to put another captive in here. We don't know what he plans to do with us, but it can't be anything good." 

"Don't worry. I'm friends with the Avatar. I can personally guarantee you that everything's gonna be just fine." 

"That's quite something to ask us to take on faith, kid." The man who had threatened him said. "How can we believe you?"

As though in response to his question, the gnarled bamboo straightened out, the colors brightening. Sokka felt a smug grin stretching across his face. "You were saying?" 

The fog lifted, the village coming into view through the stems. The quartet of captives pushed their way out, their families and friends rushing to meet them. Sokka groaned, the wind knocked out of him with the impact as his sister threw herself into him for a tight hug. 

"Hey guys. What happened?"

"You were taken by the monster. You were in the spirit world for twenty-four hours!" Katara explained. 

"Yeah, no, I got that. I meant what happened on your end?" Sokka laughed. 

"Turns out the Hei Bai was actually the spirit of this forest and not a monster at all! He just went home!" Aang piped up.

"Just… went home?" Sokka raised an eyebrow. "All of this, and it was that easy?"

"Well, I _am_ the Avatar, after all. I'm naturally suited to this kind of thing!" Aang preened, despite his anxiety about the whole thing the day before. 

"Uh-huh. Whatever you say, buddy." Sokka deadpanned. 

"You've saved our village. How can we repay you?" The old man who originally requested their help cut in. 

"We could use supplies! And money!" Sokka helpfully supplied. Katara broke their hug to smack his arm. 

"Sokka!"

"What? We need stuff." 

"No price is too steep. We will gladly supply you for your journey." The villagers scattered, some to their homes, others to gather what supplies they could part with to donate to the Avatar. 

"We need to be ready to head out as soon as possible." Sokka warned the others. "Zuko isn't far from here. And he knows where we are." 

"What?! How? And how do you know?" Katara demanded. 

"I saw him, while I was in the spirit world."

"Oh!" Aang looked cheery. "Did the deer spirit you told us about show up again?!" 

"Well, yeah, but that's not the point." Sokka was desperate to wrench the conversation off of this path. He couldn't understand how Aang was so perky about the jerk being his soulmate. "The point is he saw Appa. He didn't give chase, but it's only a matter of time, I'm sure." 

"Why didn't he give chase?" Katara worried. 

"I don't know." Sokka lied. "But it doesn't matter. He's stubborn. He hasn't given up, for sure." 

"Well, then where's the next destination, Aang?" Katara turned to the Avatar, who looked uncomfortable suddenly. 

"Well, there's a certain temple I need to go to on the Winter Solstice, so I can meet Avatar Roku." Aang explained. 

"That's tomorrow!" Katara gasped. "I hope this temple is close!"

"Well…" Aang hesitated. "It's close enough for Appa to make it, but it's in the Fire Nation."

"That's too dangerous!" Sokka argued. 

"But if that's what you need to do, we'll be there for you." Katara rested a gentle hand on Aang's thin shoulder. 

"I don't want to put you guys in danger, though! It would be better if I went alone!" Aang argued. 

"No, no, out of the question." Sokka crossed his arms. "Putting the Avatar in danger would be way worse. Safety in numbers, Aang, always remember that." 

"We're coming with you. No arguments." Katara put on her best Mom Voice. Aang smiled weakly. 

"Okay, okay. I guess I have no choice. Thanks, guys."

"Avatar Aang! We have supplies for you!" One of the men of the village announced, carrying several small bundles. The siblings helped pass the supplies up to Aang, who strapped them into the saddle securely. "Now, go! Make haste!" 

The trio all safely in the saddle, Aang cracked the reigns. "Thanks again, everyone! Yip yip!" 

"Thank _you_ , Avatar! May your travels be safe!" The man called out. The gathered villagers all waved their goodbyes until Appa was far enough to be out of sight. 

A Fire Nation temple, huh? Sokka couldn't think of many things _more_ reckless, but when had anything to do with Aang been anywhere close to _safe_ , anyway? 


	6. Avatar Roku

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops this one took a while but i had to figure out what i wanted to do with it so   
> bam new chappie

Sokka was beginning to doubt this mission was worth what they had to go through for it. They'd had fire hurled at them three times by three different parties and they hadn't even gotten into the temple proper yet. 

Aang led the way, airbending his steps faster, rushing as far away from their most recent assailants as possible. Just as quickly, he turned on his heel, bowling over Sokka and his sister on the way, another of those red-robed guys shouting behind him. 

"How did he get over there so fast?!" Aang shrieked. 

The siblings rushed after him, putting distance between themselves and their pursuer, but Aang led them right into a dead end. 

"Wait!" The man called out. 

"Shit!" Sokka ducked behind Katara, using her as a magic-wielding meat shield. She shot him an unimpressed glare.

"I don't want to hurt you! I am a friend!" The robed man claimed. 

"Yeah, right!" Sokka shouted, peeking over Katara's shoulder. "You were just shooting fireballs at us with the rest of them!"

The man knelt, then bowed low. "I know why you are here, Avatar. You wish to speak with Avatar Roku. I will take you to him."

"Why should we trust you?" Katara folded her arms, cocking her hip confrontationally. 

The man stood, moving a lamp on the wall and pushing fire into the hidden indention behind it, revealing a secret passageway. 

"Ooh, a secret passage!" Aang chirped excitedly. 

"Find them!" A voice shouted, the leader of the men from earlier. Their would-be guide ushered them into the tunnel, closing it off behind them.

He explained, as they went, the origins of the temple, and of the fire sages he was a member of, how the others were ignoring their duties to the Avatar despite their organization's purpose. 

Sokka's attention began to wane, tucking the conversation away as Avatar Stuff, focus shifting to how annoyed he was they had to climb seemingly endless stairs and inclines to reach their destination. Why couldn't the entrance be closer to the statue they needed? It'd save them a lot of effort. The oppressive heat of the volcano wasn't doing them any favors, either, Sokka's tunic sticking to his back almost immediately. He wondered if this was what the Fire Nation royal palace felt like. It was in a volcano, too, right? No wonder Zuko had been so shocked when he'd turned up in heavy furs the first time. This heat would kill him in even his summer parka. 

He pushed those memories from his head firmly, returning to the moment. The sage, Shyu, had finally exited the secret passageway, leading them out into a large chamber with carvings of dragons curling around each pillar. On the far wall, an ominous-looking door, decorated with even more dragons, stood tall, filling most of the space. The sage gasped when he saw it.

"The sanctuary doors! They're closed!" 

The group gathered around the ornate doors, Shyu looking devastated, Aang trying his best to force them open. 

Sokka peeked into one of the dragon's mouths, seeing a hidden mechanism inside. It was immediately reminiscent of the locking mechanism for the sanctuary from the Southern Air Temple, which Aang had been able to grant them access to before. Presumably, this door ran on firebending. 

Shyu confirmed that theory, explaining that they would need the power of all of the sages to open the door. 

The gears clicked together in Sokka's head, springing from firebending, to the plumes of flame produced by a certain mixture his dad had once shown him, to running inventory of what they carried with them currently, to what materials he could use as substitutes for what they lacked. Already pulling out what he'd need, he began to explain his plan. 

"We'll use these as explosives to simulate firebending. With these, we'll only need one fire blast, just to light the fuses. Then, bam! Door open!" 

The oil from the temple lamps wasn't the same as what they used back home, and the rope they had wasn't waxed, but he was sure it would be close enough. Working quickly, uncomfortably aware of their time limit, Sokka shoved the makeshift explosives into place. 

"Okay, go ahead!" 

The sage complied, setting the fuses alight. Immediately, Sokka knew something was wrong. He urged the others to stand back further, taking shelter behind the pillars. 

The rope sparked as it burned, the fire traveling too quickly towards the bags of oil. The bags caught, instantly, the oil within burning all at once in an explosive fashion, rather than the slow and sustained flames he'd been aiming for. Worse, the resulting explosion was nearly deafening, doubtlessly giving away their location instantly. 

That wasn't much of a substitute for firebending at all, and the door agreed, standing resolutely closed. 

Sokka cursed under his breath. His failure meant they'd lost their chance to do the one thing they came here to do, and now they'd have to fight their way back out. 

It was Katara who scraped a victory out of his mistakes, quickly formulating a plan involving the scorch marks and Momo that would fool the other sages into opening the door for them. Oh, his brilliant little sister. He could kiss her. 

She shoved him away. "We need to get moving. If we aren't hidden by the time they get here, the ploy won't work." 

\---

Zuko steered the little river boat quickly, dodging around his own ship and aiming for the island's docks. If he was fast, the Avatar would be in his grasp before that asshole, Zhao, even knew what was happening. 

The temple sanctuary was near the highest level, situated to catch the most sunlight for the longest possible amount of the day. Zuko had been here only once before, to ask what the sages knew of the Avatar before setting out on his journey, and the useless old men had only been able to say that he was an airbender. At the time, Zuko had been furious, but it turned out to be an incredibly useful bit of knowledge, in the end. He supposed he owed them an apology, of sorts. 

He recalled the inner temple being a networked maze of tunnels and secret places, winding around before reaching their destination. Without a guide, he'd never make it in time. 

He glanced back. Sure enough, Zhao's ship was following Uncle on his, and making good speed. 

Zuko stretched his hands and began to scale the walls.

The ornate structure afforded a plethora of easy handholds, allowing for a relatively quick ascension. Rapidly, he made his way ever higher, until he estimated the sanctuary was nearby. He slipped through a wide window, perched high above the floor on the other side, and cast about for some sort of landmark to recover his bearings. 

A loud noise, like an explosion, rang out through the halls. Light on his feet, he dropped to the floor, chasing that sound. Sure enough his gut was correct, the corridor he was in opening into the great chamber lined with dragon-wreathed pillars that led into the sanctuary. Gathered around the ornate door were several familiar faces, including the Avatar. 

Luck was on his side, for once. 

The Avatar and his friends discussed a hasty plan, and Zuko took the chance during their confusion to dart between the pillars towards his quarry.

The other Sages entered the chamber, falling hook, line, and sinker for their ploy, unlocking the sanctuary doors with plumes of flame. 

Under cover of the roaring fire, Zuko grabbed the Avatar, swiftly maneuvering both arms behind his back to limit his movements.

The Avatar, as usual, didn't struggle when he was captured, merely craning his head around to see who had him. 

"Zuko?" The boy said, as though he were genuinely surprised. 

"You're coming with me. I should thank your friends for giving me this chance." 

Behind him, Sokka and his sister shouted for the Avatar to complete their plan. Their chance lost, they were quickly overpowered by the Sages. 

"He's mine! Close the doors!" Zuko ordered, leading his captive into the staircase leading back down to the entrance. The Sages complied, chaining Sokka and Katara for good measure. Zuko hesitated. 

"Are you really gonna let them do that?" The Avatar looked up at him, brows drawn in worry. Zuko clenched his jaw. 

"It's a necessary sacrifice. You don't understand." 

"Well, then explain it to me! I'm sure I'd get it if you told me! Any friend of Sokka's can't be all bad!" Zuko tensed, squeezing the Avatar's wrists tighter. The airbender flinched, glancing over Zuko's shoulder to where the doors were sliding shut. "Oh! Gotta go!" 

That was all the warning he got before a gust of wind tore the Avatar from his grasp, propelling the little monk over the crowd and into the sanctuary. Zuko scrambled after him, boots sliding on the metal floors before he regained his footing, but too late. 

The doors shut, a familiar blue light shimmering forth, and they would not reopen. 

Zuko whirled around, aiming his fury at the traitorous Sage. "Why were you helping them?" He demanded. 

"Helping the Avatar is our duty. Even if the others have forgotten." The traitor replied, voice steady. 

His interrogation was quickly interrupted, the sound of several sets of boots clicking across the floor announcing the arrival of another party. Loud, slow claps rang out into the wide chamber, echoing around its walls. 

"An admirable effort." Zhao's slimy voice purred. "Too bad you failed. Unsurprising." 

One of his men gripped Zuko by the wrists, restraining him. He struggled weakly, knowing he was outnumbered and outmatched. 

"It was stupid of you to come here, but it all works out for me, in the end. Your father will be so  _ pleased  _ to finally have an excuse to punish you more  _ permanently.  _ I always thought the banishment was too soft. Men, detain the sage, as well. And be ready for the Avatar to emerge." 

"It's too late! The doors won't open." Zuko grit out, a weak argument in the face of his own failure and Zhao's imminent victory. 

"He has to come out eventually." The Commander said confidently. "It's only a matter of time before my victory is complete." 

With a wave of Zhao's hand, the soldier restraining Zuko dragged him off, chaining him to the pillar adjacent to the one the others were already bound to. His task complete, the soldier joined Zhao's firing line, ready to apprehend the Avatar. 

Zuko huffed, smoke trailing from his nostrils. So close, and then victory was tugged out from beneath him like a loose rug. He tried to burn his way out of his chains, his captor's back turned, but to no avail. The metal simply heated up uncomfortably against him.

"Psst, Zuko!" A stage-whisper drew his attention. Sokka had slid around in the chains, ending up on the side of his pillar nearest to Zuko's. "What's that guy's deal?" The Water Tribesman nodded his head at Zhao. 

Zuko snorted, rolling his eyes. They hadn't run into the asshole yet, had they. 

"Is he after Aang, too?" Sokka pressed.

Zuko nodded sharply. "Yes." 

Sokka seemed disappointed by the curt response, expression tugging into a dramatic frown. "Hey…" 

"Sokka, what are you doing!" His sister's voice hissed, her face peeking around the pillar at them. "Is this really the time to chit-chat? Aang's in trouble!"

"Hey, I'm just… gathering information! This guy's a new threat!" Sokka defended. Zuko huffed with amusement. 

"What's wrong, Katara? Can't he  _ catch up  _ with an old friend?" Zuko taunted. The waterbender scooted around in her chains to glare at him more fully. 

"Not if it's  _ you _ ." She spat. She punched Sokka lightly in the elbow, the nearest part of him she could reach. "He knows my name?!" She hissed. Sokka shrugged.

Their banter was interrupted by the glowing of a blue light from within the sanctuary, smoke billowing out in plumes as the doors finally parted. 

Zhao ordered his men to attack, great plumes of flame billowing into the chamber. They warped oddly upon entry, and were bent aside to reveal not the young, airbending Avatar everyone expected, but the spectral visage of Avatar Roku. The specter swept the flames easily, building their fury and sending them back at the line of soldiers, scattering them. Zuko braced himself against the blast. 

A pained shout from beside him tore his eyes back open. 

Sokka had been too near the doors in his attempt to scoot nearer to Zuko, and the flames had licked dangerously at his exposed skin. A surge of adrenaline jolted through him, his hands growing hot, protective instinct pushing him towards the other boy. He summoned a great flame, stronger than any he'd ever summoned before, and melted his bonds in an instant. 

Behind them, Avatar Roku's spirit battled the Sages and the soldiers, but Zuko only had eyes for the Water Tribesman. 

He surged forward, grabbing the chains on either side of Sokka's body in his hands, crowding him against the pillar. Sokka's eyes were wide with shock, inches from his own. 

"What are you doing?!" Katara's voice shouted from the other side. Zuko let out a heavy breath, that surge of energy from before coming to his aid again, melting the bonds from the siblings and the rogue Sage. Katara shouted, startled, and jumped away from the melted metal, but Sokka remained frozen in place. 

"Thank… you?" He breathed. 

"I… I don't know how I did that." Zuko admitted. 

"You have to get out of here!" The rogue Sage warned. "Avatar Roku is going to bring down the temple!" 

The specter, having chased off his assailants, began to draw upon the lava beneath them, destroying the structure. 

"Not without Aang!" Katara shouted back. "Sokka, come on!" 

"Go." Zuko murmured. Sokka nodded. 

At once, they split apart, Sokka returning to his sister's side, Zuko sprinting for a destroyed section of wall. His river boat was far below, but there was no time to do this the safe way. 

He slid down the wall, using the crumbled sections as footholds, and made his way precariously all the way back down to sea level. Nearby, Zhao's men tumbled towards their own ship, escaping the tumbling lava and debris. Zuko noted with some satisfaction that there were fewer here than had been in the temple. Zhao would have trouble piloting his ship with the loss of crew. 

Luckily, his little boat was just where he had left it, undamaged by Zhao or his men. He thanked the spirits for small graces, and took up the helm.

Time to meet back up with Uncle.

\---

As Roku's spirit left him, Aang collapsed to the ground. Sokka rushed over, Katara close behind, and scooped him up. 

"Come on, we need to get out of here." 

Aang wobbled a bit, but regained his footing quickly. "Thanks. Where's Shyu?" 

"I don't know, but there's no time." Katara responded, dragging Aang by the wrist towards the descending staircase. "Oh no!"

Sokka looked over her shoulder, seeing what she was gasping at. "Oh, no…" He agreed. Lava was bubbling up from below, filling the entire structure. "Where do we go?!" 

Just then, Momo swooped in, the sound of Appa's lowing coming from behind him. Aang whooped, embracing the lemur. "Good going, buddy!" 

Their escape secure, the trio piled into the bison's saddle, Aang taking the reigns. Just in time, too, as the temple fully collapsed behind them, into the sea. 

Sokka leaned out of the saddle, glancing about for signs of Zuko's ship, worry settling in when he only saw a much larger one floating in the harbor. 

"I'm sure he's fine. He's a damned beetleroach." Katara huffed, crossing her arms. 

"Hey, you don't know what I'm looking for!" Sokka replied defensively. 

"Yeah, because you always look like your boomerang just fell off a cliff when you're watching for enemies." Katara rolled her eyes. 

"Don't even joke about that." Sokka said, tone serious, pointing directly at her. He deflated, seeing Aang looking tense. "Aang? What's wrong?" 

The monk tensed up further, curling in on himself. "It's about what Roku told me in there. It's… well, you guys might want to sit down for this." 

Sokka refrained from pointing out that they were already sitting, as securely as the bison's saddle allowed. Katara wrapped an arm around Aang's shoulder, pulling him close. 

He explained about the comet that was coming, and the great power it would grant all the firebenders of the world. They suddenly had a time limit imposed on them, and all the fun little detours he'd already taken ate him up with guilt. Aang had drawn his knees up tightly to his chest by the end of the explanation, Sokka having joined Katara in wrapping him into a comforting embrace. 

"Don't worry, Aang. We'll all face this together. We're already on our way to get started. You're not alone, you'll never be alone with this." Katara murmured, rubbing smooth circles into Aang's back. 

Sokka grinned, patting him firmly between the shoulder blades. "Yep. Next stop, North Pole!" 

\--- 

Zuko stepped off of the little river boat and into the ship's hangar, his Uncle's arms immediately drawing him into a tight embrace.

"My nephew! It is so good to see you return safely!" 

"Thank you, Uncle." 

"It seems, though, that your mission was… less than successful?"

Zuko scoffed, pulling out of Uncle's embrace. "Zhao wasn't fooled by the smokescreen. He ambushed us." 

Uncle hummed. "You may tell me all the details over a warm cup of tea. I'm sure you can use the chance to wind down after your ordeal. We saw the temple collapse from here." 

Zuko nodded. "Okay." 

Uncle ushered him up onto the deck, then into his quarters for the promised tea. He prompted Zuko to tell his tale, reacting appropriately at the right moments, despite Zuko's clipped and dry storytelling method. 

It was when he began to talk about how they escaped their bonds that Zuko hesitated. 

"Uncle… it was like I was suddenly more powerful. I hadn't been able to burn the chains just moments before. Is that… is that because of adrenaline? I don't think I've ever felt that before." He asked, uncertainly.

Uncle nodded. "The heat of the moment can certainly draw strength from us we would never think possible. However, I believe you are correct in your guess that that was not the extent of it."

"Then what, Uncle?" 

He smiled, that knowing twinkle in his eye. "You were only trying to save yourself the first time, yes? Then, when you tried again, you were protecting someone else. You were worried for that Water Tribe boy, weren't you?" 

Zuko flushed, indignant. "What are you implying?!" 

Uncle hummed again, pouring himself another cup from the pot. "Do you know of the Jin Lu spirit?" He asked. 

Zuko failed to see the connection between the two trains of thought. He shook his head. "No."

"It is a golden deer, eight-legged, with antlers like a halo." Uncle described. Zuko felt his eyes go wide with recognition. "The Jin Lu is also known as the Far Strider spirit, as it often acts as a guide across far distances. It is a spirit of nature, concerned primarily with maintaining the balance of man with the natural world, and seeks to aid those that would protect its domain."

Zuko looked into his teacup, still mostly full, just for an excuse not to meet his Uncle's knowing gaze. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I had the honor of laying eyes on this spirit recently. You will recall my short-lived capture by the Earth Kingdom army, yes?"

Zuko smiled. "Yes, I recall."

"Well, the Jin Lu walked by as I was being so kindly escorted by those soldiers. Following it was a boy I believe you know well." 

There was the connection. Uncle knew. 

"Sokka." Zuko breathed. 

"The very same. It was clear the Jin Lu was guiding him somewhere. Knowing as I do that you were mere steps behind me then, I can imagine where that may have been."

Zuko swallowed, regretting stepping into this line of conversation. 

"To return to your original question, you may recall from the old tales your mother and I loved to tell that fighting for one's soulmate can often make both parties more powerful and resilient. Your spirits are matched with one another perfectly, and that resonance can empower you both with unimaginable strength. Until now, you have fought against him, both emotionally and very literally. This time, though, you were fighting  _ for  _ him. That makes all the difference."

Zuko was sure his emotions were etched clearly on his face. He was embarrassed beyond belief that his uncle had seen right through him like that, guilty for keeping secrets from him in the first place, feeling foolish for having forgotten something like this in the heat of the moment, focussed so wholly on keeping the other boy from danger… The turmoil ate at him in a horribly familiar fashion. 

"I can see I have given you much to think about. Come, let me take you to your room. The helmsman is already charting course following the Avatar's bison, no need to worry."

Zuko stood, leaving his full cup behind. "Thank you, Uncle." 

"Of course." 

He allowed himself to be led down the hall, entering his room as Uncle opened the door, and stood, lost, just inside. 

Stronger together, was it? 

Fate was truly cruel. 


	7. The Waterbending Scroll

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did this so fast   
> im already so far into the next one  
> i managed to stomp writers block into the curb   
> thank u and good night

Watching waterbending practice was about as fun as it had always proven to be in the past. Sokka was almost glad to be bathing Appa, if only for the chance to do  _ something  _ while the others splashed around for hours. 

The bison enjoyed the pampering, Sokka scrubbing between his toes and combing out loose fur thoroughly. 

"Alright, buddy. Ready to roll over so I can get the other side?" Sokka asked. The bison lowed in response, lazily flipping his hulking body. "There we go. Thanks, Appa." 

Sokka scrubbed at the joints where the saddle usually hooked around him, loosening the mats in the fur beneath. The sun had risen from low on the horizon to high overhead while he worked, before Aang got too  _ enthusiastic  _ with his bending and sent a huge wave over them all. 

"Hey, watch it!" 

"Sorry!" Aang called out. "Guess this waterbending stuff is easier than I thought!" 

Katara grumbled behind him as Sokka watched the current capture their belongings. 

"You just waterbended all our stuff down the river!" 

Sokka began to strip his tunic, chasing down the supplies. 

"We can buy replacements in the market nearby, don't worry about it!" Katara tried. 

"My Kyoshi uniform was in there! Not to mention the food and the fishing rod and- we don't have enough money for all that!" He slid down the short drop, the supplies gaining distance quickly, until they dropped off a second waterfall further down. He groaned. 

"We'll have to make do. Come on, let's go see what we can buy." 

\---

"Didn't the guards at that prison mention that this market attracts 'unsavory types'?" Zuko asked as he and Uncle descended the gangplank onto the wharf. 

"Bah, they simply do not trust any port that is not under Fire Nation control. I assure you, Prince Zuko, this trip will go perfectly smoothly. Just let me check the shops and we'll be on our way." Uncle waved off his concerns with a brush of his hand, and tottered off to the nearest shop. 

Following closely behind, studiously ignoring the stares from passersby, Zuko followed his Uncle to shop after shop, the old man using their funds freely at each stop. Nothing he purchased was the tile he was ostensibly searching for, and none of it was useful, either. 

"We're losing valuable time." Zuko grumbled through gritted teeth. "Their bison is as fast as our ship. We can't afford to waste so much time here!" 

"Nephew, please. It won't take long. I'm sure the next shop will have what I'm looking for."

Not for the first time, Zuko wondered if his Uncle was stalling on purpose. It wouldn't do to accuse him of traitorous intentions, though, so Zuko held his tongue. 

\---

The last of their money did not stretch nearly far enough, not even covering all the basics they needed. Worse, just when Sokka was beginning to calculate how to ration out their last three copper pieces on nonperishable foodstuffs, Aang shows up having blown money on a whistle. It didn't even make a noise! 

And they  _ still  _ wanted to shop! They ended up in a shop nestled inside of a ship on the pier, boasting fantastic wares they definitely couldn't afford anyway. Sokka perused their weapons, scrutinizing their make for methods and materials he might be able to replicate by hand, while Katara and Aang attempted to barter for a waterbending scroll horrifically far out of their price range. 

As suddenly as they arrived, Katara was ushering them out once more. Sokka grumbled about it, having been in the middle of investigating the wrapped-leather grip of a boomerang, but allowed himself to be dragged out of the shop anyway. 

They hadn't made it far when the shop ship's crew, a band of heavily-armed  _ pirates,  _ descended upon the three of them, brandishing arms and threatening words alike. 

As usual, Aang headed the escape, his airbending especially suited to pulling them out of scrapes. A blast of air sent an oddly familiar cart of cabbages flying into their pursuers, to the dismay of the merchant. Several more of the pirates swung around the next corner, aiming to execute some sort of pincer maneuver, but Katara iced up the ground between them, slowing them down. Not for the first time, Sokka wished he had some magic powers of his own, something that could put distance between them and the pirates' blades. 

Instead, powerless, he was cursed to follow the airbender blindly into yet another dead end (seriously, how did Aang  _ always _ manage to corner them?) and watch as their pursuers gained quickly on them. 

"Stand back!" Aang warned them, not waiting to see if they listened before pushing a gust into the sand-swept cobblestones of the alley, sending a billowing cloud of dust into the remaining pirates. It bought them only a moment, but it was just long enough for Aang to unfold his glider and sweep the three of them away. 

\---

The game tile Uncle was looking for was  _ not  _ in the next shop. Or the next. Or the one after that. 

Zuko had long since run out of patience, moments from strangling the old man when he finally announced, after checking the very last shop and purchasing a tsungi horn, that the search was a bust. 

"Great. Good to know this whole detour was a  _ complete  _ waste of time for  _ everyone!"  _ He snarled. Still in good spirits, his Uncle simply chuckled, pleased with the 'bargains' he'd found. 

"If that was the last shop, can we  _ finally  _ leave?" Zuko whined. 

"Ah, ah, ah! We have not checked the ships docked here! I noticed a few of them are open for business, as well! I'm certain these far-traveling traders will have even more rare goods!" 

As frustrated as Zuko was with his Uncle's antics, he still followed along, like a turtle-duckling following its mother. Uncle ooh-ed and aah-ed over the exotic wares available in the ship's shop, particularly enthused by an ape inset with rubies. 

This shop, however, had more than exotic goods. They had something infinitely more valuable- information. 

A flashy man leaned over the counter, complaining in hushed tones about stolen scrolls and bald monks. Long past caring about seeming rude, Zuko inserted himself into the conversation. 

"This monk… did he have a tattoo of an arrow on his forehead?" 

The flashy man turned to look at him slowly, the color draining from his face telling him plenty. The man behind the counter, tall and imposing, frowned deeply. 

"What's that information worth to you?" 

"How about I pay you in a favor? You tell me about this monk you saw, and I'll retrieve your stolen merchandise. Deal?" 

The man studied him carefully, then stuck out a hand with force. Zuko took it, shaking firmly. "Deal." The man agreed. "Where should we start?"

\---

Katara had no remorse. She apparently had sticky fingers Sokka had never known about, and thought a single scroll with a few kata was worth their  _ lives.  _

She and Aang took to the water once more, studying the drawings in the scroll to learn the stances. 

"Here, let me try this one first, and then it's all yours." Katara promised Aang. The monk, too infatuated with her to argue, held the scroll open obediently. 

Sokka took a step back, considered, and then put several more feet of distance between them. With his experience with bending, he didn't want to tempt fate or its tendency to drench him in bending water. 

Katara took a deep breath, clumsily mimicking the stances of the kata painted onto the scroll. She drew some water up from the river, but it failed to take shape. Groaning, she started over, trying to connect the stances more fluidly. Still, the water refused to obey. 

More violently this time, striking the poses sharply, she drew on the water a third time. This time, a huge volume of water followed her command, darkening the sky and swinging wildly. Sokka scrambled to duck behind the rock he was perched on, but the water suddenly rocketed the other way, pouring onto Momo and driving the lemur underwater. Katara panicked, rushing into the water to retrieve the furious creature, chittering angrily at her and grooming himself dry. 

"I'm so sorry Momo! I got a little worked up, it won't happen again!" 

"Here, Katara." Aang set the scroll down gently, padding over to the riverside. "You need to concentrate on shifting your weight through the stances." He smoothly pulled the water up and into shape, sending it cracking out as intended. "It's really similar to airbending-"

"Shut UP!" Katara suddenly shouted. "I don't need your  _ infinite wisdom _ right now! Why do we even need a scroll, right?! You're so naturally  _ gifted _ !" 

"Katara…" Sokka warned. 

"What?!" Her fury rounded on him, a wall of water shivering dangerously behind her. Sokka nodded back towards Aang, who looked close to tears. Finally noticing his expression, Katara deflated, water splashing back into the river as she did, and she stuttered out an apology to him. 

"Oh, Aang… I don't know what came over me. Here, let's put this away for now, forget all about it. I don't want to have anything to do with it anymore." 

"No, Katara, it's fine-" Aang tried. Sokka cut him off.

"It's not. Let her apologize. She's being a jerk." 

She turned to glare at him, but sighed, letting the anger go. "He's right. I got really worked up there. I even put Momo in danger." She stroked the lemur, still licking at a small, pink wound where he'd scraped the rocks. 

"Okay. Thank you for your apology, then, Katara." 

Sokka pat Aang's shoulder. "Alright, now that that's settled, let's get to bed. Don't wanna be out in the open like this for too long."

\---

As expected, Zuko found Katara on the river, using the scroll she'd stolen to practice her craft near the river. The pirates and his own men worked in sync, capturing her smoothly and binding her to a thin tree. Zuko waved them back. 

"Tell me where he is, and I won't hurt you or your brother." He promised.

"Yeah, right. Go drown." Katara snarled.

Zuko worried his lip. "Please, understand. I'm sure Sokka's told you why I need him-" 

"No, he  _ hasn't."  _ She bit back. "Why would he even know something like that?"

"I- has he… not told you?" Zuko had assumed Sokka had told his sister everything, remembering their early encounters. She'd hurt herself trying to meet her own soulmate after he'd told her, hadn't she?

"I know that you're his  _ soulmate _ , and he told me how he met you." Zuko stiffened at the way his men began to murmur between one another. "And I know that you're a big pompous prick who doesn't deserve him!"

"Just listen to me!" Zuko groaned. "I don't want to be fighting you  _ or  _ Sokka!"

"Then stop chasing after Aang! Simple! Easy fix! You never have to worry about fighting your  _ soulmate _ ever again!" She spat the word 'soulmate' like it was poison to her.

Zuko grit his teeth, punching the tree above her head, fist smoking. "I  _ can't _ ! If you would just  _ listen-"  _

Katara's gasp cut him off. She was staring at the arm still poised over her head. "You- where did you get that?!"

It was then that he remembered the necklace carefully clasped around his left wrist for safekeeping. He drew it to himself, cradling it gently. "This is your mother's necklace, right? Sokka said it became yours after… after she passed." 

His words only seemed to rile her up more. "Oh, so you  _ know  _ how important it is, and you're just  _ flaunting  _ it like a  _ trophy?!"  _ She used her bonds as leverage, kicking up at him. He dodged easily, getting out of range with just half a step. "How do you even know about it?! Mom was still alive last time you-" Her eyes grew wide, realization dawning behind them. 

So Sokka had been keeping him a secret. Just as well, as he'd been doing the same, but… 

"How about a trade, then? This is important to you, and capturing him is important to me." He unclasped the necklace from his wrist, holding it out in a show of good faith. 

"What's all this jabbering about?!" The pirates' leader demanded. You promised us the scroll!"

Zuko whirled on the tall man, huffing out a puff of smoke. "You'll get it when I get what  _ I  _ came for."

"That wasn't the deal!" 

Zuko tucked the necklace into his armor for safekeeping, pulling the scroll out and holding it aloft. 

"You all are really fixated on this. It must be worth quite a bit of money." He lit his hand, drifting the flames just close enough to tickle the parchment, but too far away to light it. The collective gasp from the pirates confirmed his theory. "Bring me the boy, and I give you the scroll." 

The pirates' leader grumbled. "Fine. Boys?" He motioned his crew out into the woods. 

"Wait!" Zuko demanded. The captain raised an eyebrow. "Don't hurt the Water Tribe boy. Just bring the monk." 

The pirates cackled. "No promises." The captain scoffed. 

"Oh,  _ now  _ you're worried about him…" Katara rolled her eyes. Zuko shot a glare at her. She returned it with full force. 

\---

It wasn't their most  _ elegant  _ of escapes, sure, but they'd managed to outwit a crew of pirates, a band of firebenders, and recover the scroll while they were at it. Better, Zuko's boat was scrap metal, crippling his pursuit, and Aang's impulse purchase actually came in handy. 

"Good going, turning them against each other like that." Aang praised Sokka as they flew off, astride Appa's strong back once more. "I wouldn't have thought to use me being the Avatar like that! That was really quick thinking!" 

"I know, I know. I'm a genius." Sokka gloated, puffing up under the praise. 

"Don't congratulate him." Katara snapped. "He's a big fat liar who's been keeping  _ secrets  _ from us." 

"What? What do you mean?" Aang asked, eyes huge.

"Yeah, Katara. What exactly are you getting at?" Sokka crossed his arms. What was with the sudden suspicion? 

"Well, Sokka, I seem to remember you  _ claiming  _ that you'd only met Zuko once, when you were  _ eight. _ " 

Oh, yeah, he had said something like that, hadn't he? "Yes?" He responded, hesitantly. 

"So why did he know about Mom's necklace? I didn't get that until you were  _ nine. _ Do the math for me, would you? Because that  _ doesn't add up."  _

Whoops. He should have considered that, running into Zuko so often, the Prince might be the one to spill the proverbial beans. "Okay, okay, you got me. It was maybe more than once?" 

" _ More than once,  _ he says! Let's try another question, shall we?"

Oh, spirits, what else had he said?

"Zuko seemed to be under the impression that  _ you  _ would know why he was so fixated on capturing Aang! Has he been after the Avatar since he was, what, ten? Or is there more  _ recent  _ news for you to cough up?" Katara stood, stalking slowly across Appa's saddle to get right in Sokka's face. 

"Before he  _ attacked our village _ , when was the last time you'd seen  _ Prince Zuko?"  _

Sokka swallowed, tearing his gaze away. "It was about six months before Dad left." He finally offered. 

"Six months before… Sokka, you kept this secret for that long?! You can't be serious!" 

A gust of wind swept past, jostling Appa's flight path. Katara, nearly losing her footing, finally sat back down. "How many times did you meet up with him in that time?"

Sokka sighed heavily. "I… couldn't say. I lost count a long time ago. It was… it used to be pretty often. We'd meet up every so often and just… talk." 

"Wow, no wonder you know him so well!" Aang chirped. 

"Not as well as I thought, apparently. I always thought he was some kind of  _ exception. _ That the Fire Nation evilness hadn't  _ infected  _ him. He was… he used to be really nice. He was my best friend. And then…" 

Aang pat him on the back, gentle. Katara was still dubious. 

"Even if you say you haven't seen him in nearly three years, how can I trust you? You just admitted to lying about him for that long. Not to mention, you said you saw him when you were in the spirit world just a few days ago!"

"That was different!" Sokka tried to explain. "He wasn't asleep that time, we couldn't talk-" 

"You still  _ saw him!  _ How do you know he can't do the same for you?! Maybe that's how he keeps finding us, ever thought of that? Your spirit connection goes  _ both ways _ , Sokka!" 

"Um, Katara makes a good point, Sokka…" Aang winced, drawing his hand back. 

Katara was close to tears now. "Sokka, please, just… give me a reason to trust you. I hate feeling like this, being suspicious of my own brother! We  _ never  _ kept secrets from each other! But this… you were hiding this the  _ whole time! _ " 

"Katara, I… okay. Okay. I'll explain everything, okay? No holes, no lies. Just promise to listen, okay? Can you do that?" 

She nodded, choking back tears and not trusting her voice to hold steady should she speak. 

Sokka launched into his explanation, starting with how upset their mother had been when he'd first talked about Zuko, that that was the reason he'd kept it a secret. He told her about the two of them sharing their grief, their pain. He told her about how awful Zuko's family was, how fragile the Prince had seemed, how even now Sokka could only see the scared kid beneath the angry asshole. 

Finally, he told her about Zuko's banishment, and his mission. 

Aang looked guilty. "He just wants to go home… that means I'm the only thing in his way, right? Maybe I should-"

"No, Aang." Sokka cut his train of thought short. "His dad never meant for him to succeed. It's not you that's keeping him from going home, it's that asshole." 

"Besides," Katara added in, "Without you, we can't stop the Fire Lord and end this war. We need you here." 

"Yeah… I just wish there was something I could do to help." 

Ever the bleeding heart. That's why he was the hero, though, right? 

"If you could help convince him his dad's a jerk and he's better off without him, that'd be a big help. Just putting it out there." 

Somehow, that cheered Aang up. "You know what? You're right! That sounds like a really good idea!"

Katara seemed to calm down as well. "I'm… I'm sorry for blowing up at you. I know  _ why  _ you kept it a secret. I just wish… I just wish you'd trusted me enough to tell me anyway. I hate having secrets between us."

"I know." Sokka sighed. "Me too." He grinned. "Actually, I've got a little peace offering for you. I couldn't get Mom's necklace back, but…" He pulled out the waterbending scroll. Katara gasped gleefully. 

"Oh, Sokka! You're the best!" 

"Yeah, I know. You could stand to say it more often, though." 

She swatted his arm. "I take it back. You're an unforgivable jerk."

Sokka held his chest, mock-wounded, and made an offended noise. "How could you! I regret offering you peace!" 

The tension finally lifted, laughter settled in its place. 

\---

The damned tile hadn't even been missing! The Avatar slipped through his fingers  _ again,  _ they would lose  _ hours  _ of time trekking back to the ship  _ on foot _ , and the tile hadn't even been missing!

It sure was now, now that Zuko had thrown it into the river, and he was sure he'd regret the impulsive action the next time Uncle found a port with a bustling market and a potential avenue to come across rare game tiles, but for now it felt like fitting revenge. 

He did not wait to see if Uncle followed behind as he stalked back to town. 


	8. Jet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is literally just the jet episode from jets pov i used like all dialogue straight from the ep BUT i think its still fun  
> its also barely relevant to the plot of this fic i just REALLY WANTED TO WRITE JETS POV FOR THIS EP ok ok ok no criticism

Jet signalled the other Freedom Fighters to take positions. The soldiers in the camp were winding down for the evening, relaxing their guard. Over the shared meal, even the watch was comfortably relaxed. Soon, their moment would come. 

Smellerbee sent up a warning whistle, the one to denote reinforcements on the way. Jet whistled back the acknowledgement, and skirted around to where the soldiers approached. 

Judging by their heavy footsteps and raised voices, they weren't trying to be stealthy. Good, that meant the camp hadn't been tipped off about the Fighters, after all. This was, maybe, some sort of scouting party. 

When the first of the group breached the clearing, Jet realized he'd been dead wrong. He also realized luck was definitely on his side tonight. 

The three foreign children took up unpracticed battle stances, startled by the presence of the soldiers. Only one even carried any weapons, but the others could still be benders. 

Sure enough, as the children were attacked by the ash-makers, the girl defended with unnaturally floating water. 

Jet took her in. Young, probably a couple years younger than him. Likely at that 'boy-crazy' stage. Pretty, crazy pretty, they didn't make girls like that around here. 

All of the soldiers in the camp moved to surround the intruders. He signalled Longshot to take the chance.

A skillfully placed arrow penetrated the soldier's armor and he went down like a sack of grain. 

Jet hopped down from his perch, seizing the opportunity granted to them. He swung his dual blades around effortlessly, relishing in the stretch and pull of his muscles, in the freedom of movement the weapons afforded him. 

The younger boy, the one in the strange orange clothes, shifted through bending stances, but nothing seemed to happen, until an unnatural gust of wind sent a soldier spinning around the clearing. An unusually subtle earthbender, maybe? Or a relic of a past era, an actual living airbender? 

The older boy wielded an odd club, an unusual weapon Jet had only seen once or twice. He was obviously related to the girl, probably her brother. They could practically be twins. She was a waterbender, so he was likely Water Tribe, himself. Explained the weird weapons. 

The boy swung his club, too slow, and Jet took out the soldier facing him. He thought he saw a moment of hesitation in the boy's eyes, but chalked it up to inexperience in battle. 

Longshot easily took out many of the soldiers' sword hands, shooting three or four arrows at a time into the crowd. Jet then used his own blades to unbalance them, letting Smellerbee get in close with her knife. It was a strategy they'd employed countless times before, falling easily into the rhythm of it.

Again, Jet took out a guard facing the Water Tribe boy, and this time the hesitation was all too obvious. The boy held his club above his head, breath caught in his chest, and didn't bring it down. A niggling little thought snuck into Jet's brain, whispering  _ Fire Nation sympathiser.  _ Still, he'd complained about Jet 'stealing his shot'. He couldn't be sure of anything yet. 

Jet finished off the last of the guards, a pikesman who looked about ready to piss himself, and used the momentum of his attack to carry himself over to the waterbender girl. 

"Hey." He smirked, noting how he towered over her. Her breath caught. Seemed he'd nailed it with the boy-crazy guess. 

"Hi…" She flushed, brushing the styled strand of hair out of her face. Avoiding his gaze, she looked out over the Fire Nation camp. The other Fighters had begun to clear the bodies, leaving Pipsqueak and The Duke to loot the supplies. 

"Wow!" The airbender boy exclaimed. "You took out, like, a whole army! All by yourself!"

"Army?" The older boy scoffed. "There were only, like, twenty guys." 

_ You would know what a proper Fire Nation army looks like, wouldn't you? Sympathiser. _ That little voice intruded. No, he couldn't be sure yet. He could use these guys, no point in alienating them yet. 

"My name is Jet." He grinned at the trio, sweeping an arm out to indicate the others behind him. "And these are my Freedom Fighters." One by one, he introduced the members of the ambush party. The airbender kid immediately took a liking to Pipsqueak, and the brawny boy to him, in turn. 

Jet invited them to help with the cleanup and looting, and the waterbender girl readily agreed, trailing behind him like a lost cub. She was really too easy. 

Her brother, on the other hand, merely kept out of the way, shooting suspicious looks to the Fighters as they passed. Wary for himself and his friends? Or something else?

Well, Jet reasoned to himself, he was being way too obvious to be a spy. As long as they kept an eye on him, they wouldn't be taken by surprise. He murmured an order to Longshot to take the duty of watching the boy for now. 

"I wanted to thank you. For saving us." The girl's soft voice interrupted. 

Jet let his lips tug into that cocky smirk he knew worked so well. "I should be thanking  _ you.  _ We'd been waiting for an opportunity to ambush this camp all morning, and you guys crashing the party gave us the perfect distraction." 

She giggled. "Well, then, you're welcome. We'd gotten kind of lost… we were relying on  _ someone's instincts. _ " Her sweet voice took on a hard edge, glancing at the Water Tribe boy. 

"That'll get you killed." Jet frowned in put-upon concern. She looked relieved he'd agreed with her.

"Thank you!" She huffed. 

"Hey, Jet!" The Duke's high-pitched voice cut across the clearing. "There's barrels of blasting jelly over here!" 

"Ooh, useful. Nice find." Jet called back.

"And these boxes are full of jelly candy!" Pipsqueak added. 

"Also good. Try not to get those mixed up." 

"Candy? In an army camp?" The girl questioned. Her brother finally rejoined the group, answering her for them. 

"Firebender fuel. Their bending takes up a lot of energy, so they'll use candy or alcohol. Candy has fewer unintended side effects."

"You're knowledgeable." Jet noted. "I'd wondered why we found so many candy stashes. Where'd you hear that?"

"Oh, you know." The boy answered vaguely, waving a hand dismissively. "We've had some run-ins with the Fire Nation before."

"Uh-huh." Jet's suspicion spiked. "Well, let's get the stuff back to the hideout. We're done here."

"Ooh, you guys have a hideout?" The airbender enthused. 

"Yeah. Wanna see it?" 

Like clockwork, the two benders eagerly agreed. Their third, unsurprisingly, was less excited. 

The Fighters loaded up a cart with their haul and they moved out, leaving the clearing behind and heading towards the hideout. They took a roundabout, swirling path to get there, hoping to muddle the cart tracks as best they could. It wasn't perfect, but better safe than sorry. 

Along the way, the waterbender stuck close by Jet's side. He basked in the attention. 

"Hey, we introduced ourselves, but I didn't catch your names. Who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

"Oh!" She laughed nervously, fiddling with the hair hanging in front of her face. "I'm Katara. The grumpy one is my brother, Sokka." 

So he'd guessed right. "And the bald one?"

"That's Aang." 

"Is he really an airbender? He did some wild stuff back there." 

"I am!" Aang piped up, jogging to reach them. 

"That's pretty cool, man." 

The kid grinned like a doofus. 

"We're just about there." He announced. He sent Sneers ahead to find someplace to keep the giant bison, and had The Duke work with Pipsqueak to pulley the containers of various jellies up to the canopy. 

"There's nothing here." Sokka complained. Jet smirked. Not observant enough for a spy, either. 

"Here, hold this. Tight." Jet instructed, handing a pulley-rope over to him. 

"Why? What's this do?" He asked, but held on to it anyway. 

The rope pulled taut, propelling the surprised teen up into the leaves. 

Jet offered another to the airbender. "Aang?" 

"No, thanks. I'll get up on my own." Sure enough, a few gusts of wind later and the boy had disappeared. Show-off. Jet could work with that. 

That just left the girl. "Grab hold of me, Katara." He instructed. She tentatively offered her hand, and he tugged it close, spinning her gracefully into his grip just as the rope pulled taut. This close to her, he felt her heart racing in her chest, saw the flush rising in her cheeks. 

The pulley drew them through the hole in the platform, and Jet swung them both easily onto it. 

The airbender was already enjoying himself, making full use of the zip lines between platforms. 

"Nice place you got!" His cheery voice cut across the space, dying as he sped further away. 

"It's really beautiful…" Katara breathed, her gaze sliding across the collection of clustered treehouses and platforms, taking it in in its entirety. 

"It is beautiful, but more than that, it's somewhere the Fire Nation can't find us."

"Why would they be looking for you?" 

Jet pulled the stalk from his mouth, switching it to the other side to create a dramatic pause. "We've been giving them  _ plenty  _ of trouble." He gestured her to follow him, leading her to a free treehouse, abandoned when its previous occupant had been wounded in a skirmish. "A few years back, Fire Nation troops invaded an Earth Kingdom town nearby. Now, soldiers prowl the streets, and it's a home base for troops in the area. So, we've been doing the people a favor, ambushing the troops, liberating their supplies. The works. Soon enough, we'll be able to drive them out of here for good." A plan for that was already ticking in his mind. A big boost to their blasting jelly cache and a waterbender in the same day? It felt like fate.

"That's so brave of you, Jet." The girl cooed, her face flushing again. 

"Nothing braver than a guy in a tree house." Her brother snarked. 

"Ignore my brother." She snapped at him, that hard edge icing her tone again. 

"I'm not worried about it. He probably had a rough day, right?" 

Sokka held his gaze for a long moment, features settled into a harsh glare, but the tribesman backed down. 

"So…" Katara started, loathe to let the conversation lull. "You all live here?" 

Here was the part he had best rehearsed. Telling each member's history in a way that was both quick and painful, tugging at the girl's bleeding heart, that was something he'd done plenty before. It was his number one recruitment method, after all. It helped that those ash-makers were so brutal, that nearly everyone had some painful memory connected to them. 

"Sokka and I lost our mother to the Fire Nation." Katara offered, voice low. There it was. Jet felt a familiar rage boil beneath his skin. Those damned savages couldn't stop taking, couldn't help but destroy everything they touched. No one was safe, not until every last one of them was wiped out.

"I'm so sorry, Katara." He said, instead of what he wanted to.

She was quiet the rest of the way to their lodgings, clearly deep in thought. Jet allowed it, giving her space to feel her grief. Grief was useful. It was all too easy to turn it into anger. And if that icy edge to her voice was any indication, she had a great capacity for anger. 

"You guys can stay here as long as you like. I'm gonna go to the kitchens to help prepare our victory feast for the night, if you need me." 

She nodded, quietly. Jet let her be.

Putting the tree house behind him, he noticed Sokka had disappeared. He spotted him a couple of platforms over, investigating the pulley system under Longshot's watchful gaze. Good. 

The airbender was still zooming around, exploring the space with full freedom, gravity completely meaningless to him. Some of the younger Freedom Fighters, those too young or untrained to be on the ambush party, crowded around to see the airbender show off. Aang loved the attention, practically glowing under it, showing off at every opportunity. It was weirdly relaxing, watching him goof off. For all the Fighters were just kids, they had so few chances for levity. 

Jet shook the feeling off. He had too much to do to get swept up in Aang's rhythm. 

First, the kitchens. The fires were already blazing, pig-chickens roasting on spits, turning slowly under Mince's watchful gaze. She glanced up as he entered, nodding in greeting. 

"How's it going? Think we have enough for our guests?"

She huffed. "If the boys eat anything like you do, Jet, it'll be tight, but I think there'll be plenty." 

"Good. It's a celebration feast, after all." 

She waved him off. "I know, I know. You've gotta stop doing so many, though. The last feast was only a couple weeks ago. The foragers can only forage so fast. Especially with the troop activity getting closer to here."

Jet smiled. "Don't worry about that. We just took out a big camp nearby. I think we finally ousted the soldiers from around here. Besides… the plan to finally purge the ash-makers from this area once and for all is suddenly closer to completion than I thought. So you can relax a little, maybe let your hair down." He gestured to Mince's tight bun with a laugh.

"Not unless you want hair in your food, Jet." She waved him off. "Go on, get out of here. I'm sure you have more to do than bother me." 

"Damn right, I do." 

She rolled her eyes. "Sure."

Jet chuckled, leaving the kitchens behind. He needed to seek out Smellerbee, iron out some details with her… 

There she was, whittling a small block of wood with her dangerously curved knife, legs dangling off the edge of the platform. 

"Smellerbee!" Jet called, announcing his presence. She didn't look up right away, making a couple more strokes across the face of her wood block, and he politely waited a few steps away. 

Apparently reaching a better stopping point, she set the project gently beside her and looked up. "What's up, Jet?" 

He closed the distance between them, taking a seat beside her, one leg drawn up casually. 

"I don't trust that Sokka guy." 

Smellerbee didn't look surprised. "He seemed pretty suspicious of us, too. What are you thinking?" 

Jet shrugged. "Something just seems… off about him. I don't think he's a spy or anything-" Smellerbee snorted at the very idea, probably having noticed how loud and unobservant the boy could be- "I just don't think we can be sure of where his loyalties lie." 

She scratched her cheek, war paint flaking off. "You think he's, what, a Fire Nation sympathiser?" 

Jet nodded. "That, or he's just soft. I wanna make sure, though, before we trust him with anything. His sister and the monk both seem cool, but he's still a mystery."

Smellerbee nodded. "I can arrange something. You want the whole ambush party along?" 

Jet nodded, then paused. "Actually, leave Sneers here. I think he's growing attached to that bison. Besides, we can't take all the good fighters away too often, and he's a good lookout."

"Okay, no Sneers, yes to the rest. I'll gather some info and let the others know what's up. It'll be up to you to get the Water boy on board."

"Naturally." Jet stood, stretching out his legs. "Thanks, Smellerbee. I owe you one."

She waved a hand dismissively, reaching for her paused project. "You owe me a lot more than that. You'll be in danger once I go to collect." She warned.

Jet laughed. "I'll make sure to keep on your good side, then! See ya!" 

Without looking, she waved, knife in hand. It wasn't  _ necessarily  _ a threat, but Jet chose to take it as one. 

Business concluded, he busied himself with preparing for the feast, letting everyone know it was happening, distracting the younger Fighters from their games, rounding up what scouts and lookouts they could spare. 

Before he knew it, night had fallen, and it was time to actually attend the feast. 

It never failed to fill him to bursting with pride, seeing all his Freedom Fighters gathered in one place. The little army of war orphans fighting back against the monsters that took their lives, their futures from them was a sight to behold. And on a night like this, revelling in their recent victory? It made the sight all the sweeter. 

Jet held his arms up, commanding silence. 

"Today, we struck another blow against those Fire Nation swine." He called, rousing up a chorus of cheers. "I got a special joy from the look on one soldier's face as The Duke dropped down on his helmet and rode him like a wild hogmonkey." He gestured to the young Fighter, so skilled for his age, and the boy climbed up on the table to gloat amidst the cheers of his fellows. Falling into the rhythm of recounting the deeds of the day was as easy as breathing. The Freedom Fighters drank up his words like sweet honey, addicted to the taste of his rallying cry. It was invigorating. 

"Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple kids hiding in the trees. Maybe they're right." Jet paused, allowing the expected chorus of booing. He took a slow sip from his juice, smirking into the cup. "Or, maybe, they're  _ dead wrong."  _

The cheers following the proclamation were deafening, the Fighters whooping and hollering like hogmonkeys, a chant of 'freedom, freedom' swelling in the crowd. 

Satisfied, Jet took a smooth step off of the table, sitting between the Water Tribe siblings. He'd noticed the harsh glare in Sokka's eyes through the speech, the flinch during the big finale, and moved to put physical distance between him and his sister, before he poisoned her with his traitorous disposition. 

"Hey, Jet! Nice speech!" Katara congratulated. 

"Thanks." Jet chuckled as he settled in beside her, turned slightly to put his back to Sokka, physically shutting him out of the conversation. "By the way, I was really impressed with you and Aang, earlier. That was some great bending I saw today." 

She blushed, waving him off. "Well,  _ he's  _ great." The airbender flushed at her words, rubbing the back of his bald head in embarrassed modesty. "He's the Avatar. I could use some more training." She admitted. 

"The Avatar, huh?" That explained the airbender bit, probably. And if he was the Avatar, that made him a waterbender, too, technically. Another piece clicked into place. "Very nice."

The boy glowed under the praise, as expected. "Thanks, Jet!"

"So… I think I know of a way you and Aang can help us with our struggle." Jet tilted his torso toward Katara conspiratorially. She giggled, tilting toward him minutely. Jet heard movement from behind him, Sokka moving around to butt in again. 

"Unfortunately, we have to leave  _ tonight _ ." The tribesman snapped. He stood, brushing past Jet resolutely, striding towards the sturdy paddock where they were keeping the bison. 

"Sokka!" Jet called, voice heavy with mock-disappointment. "You're kidding me! I needed you on an important mission tomorrow!"

The boy stopped short, reluctantly turning back to face him. Bingo.

"What mission?" He ground out, curious despite himself. Jet grinned. Turns out all three of them were easy. 

"Get some rest, I'll give you the details in the morning. I'll come get you when we're about to head out, so make sure you're ready." 

Sokka huffed, crossing his arms. "Okay." 

Jet turned back to Katara, helping her to her feet. Her hand lingered in his. "You can show him to the treehouse you're staying in, right?" 

She nodded, helping Aang up in turn. "We're going to bed, then. Thanks, Jet. For everything." 

He smirked, flipping the stalk between his teeth. "No problem. Good night." 

As the trio headed off to their lodgings, Sokka shooting just one glance back at him, Longshot following a safe distance after, Jet sought out Smellerbee again. It'd been a few hours since he'd given her the task, and he hoped she'd have news by now. 

He found her in a lychee eating contest with The Duke, the two of them neck-in-neck. Pipsqueak cheered them on, munching at his own bowl of fruits. 

Jet joined in the encouragement, rooting for Smellerbee since The Duke had his own cheerleader, and laughed as the older Fighter finally gave in, conceding defeat to the boy. 

"Good try, good try!" Jet laughed. Smellerbee leveled a glare at him. He nodded for her to follow him, away from the well-lit banquet area. 

She scurried after him, promising The Duke a future defeat, as he led her to a nearby platform, devoid of prying eyes and listening ears. 

"Were you able to figure anything out?" 

She nodded. "Scouts said word didn't reach the town. Seems like those soldiers we took out were just passing through, and not on assignment here. Normal foot traffic will still be happening."

"Good, good. Anything else?" 

"Seems like a few civilians were talking about traveling tomorrow, through the woods to the next town over. Most of them Earth Kingdom nationals, but one or two were Fire Nation." 

"Do you think we can time it?"

Smellerbee waved a hand in a 'maybe, maybe not' motion. "Eh, depends. If we move early enough we'll be able to intercept whoever we want. We'll need luck on our side to run into who we want  _ first, _ though."

Jet grinned, playing with the stalk with his tongue. "That's fine. Luck's been on our side so far with these three. I'm willing to bet on it for tomorrow, too." He pat her shoulder firmly, knocking her off-balance. She punched him in the shoulder in retaliation. "Good work today, Smellerbee. Get some rest. We'll be up at dawn." 

\---

Jet was honestly shocked to see Sokka already dressed and ready to go at dawn, just finishing rewrapping his forearms when Jet arrived. Katara and Aang still slept comfortably in their respective bedrolls, Aang's gentle snoring creating small dust devils. 

The Water Tribesman stuck close behind as Jet led him to the gathered ambush party. A shadow in the trees nearby alerted Jet to Sneers leaving his post watching the trio's treehouse overnight. He'd earned a good morning's rest. 

Jet signalled to the party to group up. They fell in line without hesitation, Sokka even moving around to join in. "Alright, everyone. We've got a routine scouting mission today. We're watching the road to make sure no soldiers are gonna come looking for the ones we dealt with yesterday. Everyone, you know your positions. Sokka?" The boy perked up at his name, awaiting orders obediently, well-trained despite his suspicion. "You're gonna shadow me. You'll be my backup. The soldiers around here know about me already, probably have plans to combat my special fighting style, but you're a total unknown. We don't see anyone from the Water Tribes around here, ever." 

Sokka nodded, taking his words at face value. Excellent. 

"Let's move out!" 

Silence fell over the group as they moved away from the hideout and into the surrounding canopy. Though the wooden platforms absorbed a lot of sound, their voices would carry out here in the natural wood. 

The ambush party was a well-oiled machine, spreading out and keeping a rigid distance from one another as they moved. At set intervals, Pipsqueak would send up a call for the all-clear from the very front of the group, waiting to hear the answering call from Jet bringing up the rear before moving on. 

They'd lost too many Fighters without realizing it before, and the added checks assuaged everyone's anxiety. 

Another interval, another all-clear. Jet prepared to call back, but Sokka waved him down. The boy shoved a knife apparently made from a jawbone into the tree.

"What are you doing?" Jet hissed. If they wasted too much time before responding, they'd have to regroup. 

"Quiet! It amplifies vibrations." Sokka explained, holding his ear to the knife handle.

"Good trick." Jet whispered back. Resourceful. He'd have to teach that to the other Fighters. 

"Nothing yet." He claimed. 

_ Waste of time, _ Jet thought. 

"Wait, yes! Someone's approaching!" 

"How many?"

"Sounds like just one." 

Jet sent out the alarm for approaching soldiers, followed by a single tweet indicating a single person. The rustling of movement in the trees indicated the ambush party was moving into position.

"Good work, Sokka. Ready your weapon." 

The boy retrieved his knife, crouching low to the branch in preparation to hop across to Jet's tree. The traveler approached. 

Luck was indeed on Jet's side, seeing the red of the man's robes. An old man, too old to be out here alone. A messenger of sorts, most likely. It didn't matter, though. Ash-maker was ash-maker. Jet readied himself to leap down. 

"Wait! False alarm!" Sokka hissed. "It's just an old man!" 

_ Typical.  _ Jet hopped down smoothly, confronting the man. "What are you doing in our woods, you leech?" He sneered. 

"Please, sir! I'm just a traveler!" The old man claimed.

Jet's blood boiled. Traveler or not, the Fire Nation had no place here. They consumed all they touched, a drain on the very land they lived on. Jet knocked the man's staff away, removing the potential weapon. No matter how old he looked, it would be stupid to assume he was frail. A good spy could put on an act as convincing as this easily. 

Pipsqueak had descended, backing him up. The old man was trapped between them, cowering. 

"Do you like destroying towns?" Jet accused. "Do you like destroying  _ families? Do you? _ " 

Smellerbee dropped from above, pinning him in from the side, as well. Nowhere to run. 

"Oh, please!" The old man begged. "Let me go! Have mercy!"

Jet's rage bubbled over. How pathetic, this damned  _ hypocrite  _ begging for his life. "Does the  _ Fire Nation _ let people go? Does the  _ Fire Nation  _ show mercy?" Drawing his leg back, he aimed to take his fury out on the man's ribs, but was nearly bowled over as his foot was caught. 

Behind him, Sokka had dropped down, and the  _ traitor _ had leveled his weapon against him, restraining him. Jet sneered. He had his answer.

"Jet, he's just an old man!" The tribesman argued, defending the ash-maker  _ scum.  _

"He's Fire Nation!" Jet bit, getting into Sokka's face. The boy looked pitiful, seeming genuinely distressed over their treatment of the  _ damned leech.  _ Jet turned to the others. "Search him!" He barked. 

"But he's not hurting anyone!" Sokka insisted. 

"Have you forgotten how the Fire Nation  _ killed your mother?!  _ Remember why you fight!" 

Sokka clenched his jaw, expression steely, even in the face of Jet's burning fury. 

"Jet! We got his stuff!" Smellerbee called out. 

"This doesn't feel right." Sokka growled, refusing to back down. 

_ Of course it doesn't. Not to you. _ Jet really hated being right, sometimes. "It's what  _ has to be done.  _ Let's get out of here." 

Jet led the way, the other Fighters close behind him, but Sokka lingered behind. 

"Come  _ on,  _ Sokka!" Jet snapped. 

They walked for a good few minutes before the boy caught back up to them. He hoped Longshot was doing his job right, still up in the trees, keeping an eye on this traitor. He needed to know what kept him for so long. 

"So?" Smellerbee whispered while Sokka still lagged behind. "What do you think?"

Jet snarled. "I don't think he could have failed that test any  _ harder."  _

\---

Longshot reported in shortly after they returned, letting him know that Sokka had stayed behind to help the man to his feet and check him for injuries. He'd also passed something over Longshot hadn't seen, though it sounded like coin.

"Can't be too sure, though. Could be something else small and metal. Good work. Keep doing what you're doing." 

Jet fumed about Sokka's betrayal, mulling over what to do about him. He hadn't poisoned his sister or the Avatar against them yet, but he couldn't know the extent of his sympathies with the Fire Nation. He'd need to keep his plans quiet from them if he wanted to use them as planned. 

Disturbing his train of thought, the trio burst through the fabric of the entryway, Katara demanding answers. It seemed she was more upset at Sokka for accusing him than of anything they thought Jet had done. He hid the smirk threatening to pull at his lips, putting on an expression of concern, instead. 

"Sokka, you told them what happened but you didn't mention that the guy was Fire Nation?"

"No." Katara folded her arms, turning a glare onto her brother. "He  _ conveniently  _ left that part out." 

The added stress to her words spoke to some underlying tension between them. It seemed she was aware of where his sympathies lie, and was less than pleased about it. 

" _ Fine _ , but even if he was Fire Nation, he was a harmless civilian!" Sokka argued. 

This was the moment. Jet produced the deadly knife from behind him, stashed for dramatic effect. They'd found it on a raid weeks ago, before the last feast, in fact. It was just the prop he needed. 

"He was an assassin, Sokka." He reached out, twisting the handle to free the vial hidden within. "See? There's a compartment in the handle for poison. He was sent to eliminate me." Jet forced his features to soften, covering his fury with false gratitude. "You helped save my life, Sokka." 

Katara looked relieved, letting out a breath. "I knew there was a good explanation."

Sokka looked angrier than ever. "I didn't see any knife." The tribesman argued suspiciously. 

Jet groaned. "That's because he was  _ concealing  _ it!" 

"See, Sokka?" Katara said softly, placating. "I'm sure you just didn't  _ notice  _ the knife." 

"There. Was. No. Knife." Sokka bit out each word aggressively. He let out a harsh breath, forcing himself to calm down. He turned abruptly, brushing out the entrance. "I'm going back to the tree house and packing our things." 

Jet felt a moment of panic. If the others followed Sokka's lead, he'd lose his chance. "Tell me you guys aren't leaving yet! I still really need your help!" 

"What can we do?" Aang asked immediately. Jet relaxed. It seemed Sokka had little pull on them, after all. 

He began to spin the story he'd been working on since the plan clicked into place. "The Fire Nation is planning to burn down this forest to get to us. They want us to either go down with it or get smoked out." The two benders gasped, reacting just as he'd planned. "There's a reservoir nearby, but there's not enough water in it to fight the fires effectively. If you both use waterbending to fill it, it would be a huge help. But, if you leave now, they'll destroy the whole valley." 

The shared looks of concern on both of their faces convinced him his story had worked. He'd secured victory. 

\---

Before dawn broke, the cart had already been filled with stacked barrels of blasting jelly. They'd checked one last time to make sure the new kids were still asleep, and then they set off for the dam. It wasn't until they'd reached the winding pathway down into the valley, breaching the trees and thinning his cover, that Jet realized Sokka had been tracking them. He grit his teeth. Stinking traitor was sneakier than he'd given him credit for. He sent Pipsqueak around to grab him. 

"Where do you think  _ you're  _ going, ponytail?" Smellerbee snarled into Sokka's face, curved knife pressed to his neck. 

"Sokka. So glad you decided to join us." Jet smirked as the traitor was brought before him, Pipsqueak throwing him to his knees. 

"I heard your plans to destroy the Earth Kingdom town." The boy's face was twisted into a grimace of barely-repressed fury. 

"The  _ plan,"  _ Jet bit back, "Is to rid the valley of the Fire Nation!"

"There are  _ people  _ living there, Jet!" Sokka shouted, rising to his feet. Pipsqueak and Smellerbee stood ready to hold him again. "Mothers and fathers and children!" 

_ I know  _ exactly  _ which  _ people  _ you're really concerned about.  _ Jet snarled at the thought. "There can be no victory without sacrifice." Jet asserted, speaking to the other Fighters as much as to Sokka. 

"You  _ lied  _ to Aang and Katara! You told them there'd be a forest fire!" Sokka's accusatory finger was shoved right into Jet's face. He brushed it aside. 

"They don't understand the demands of war." Jet excused. Then, a last-ditch effort to convert Sokka back to a righteous cause, "Not like you or I do."

"I  _ do  _ understand. I  _ understand  _ that there's nothing you won't do to get what you want!" Sokka accused. 

Jet sighed. It was a lost cause. "I was hoping you'd have an open mind. But I can see you've made your choice."

Sokka lunged at him, but Jet countered him easily. The Fighters jumped in in an instant, pulling the boy's arms behind him. 

"I can't let you warn Katara and Aang. Take him for a walk!"

"You can't  _ do  _ this!" Sokka shouted, struggling as his hands were bound. 

"Cheer up, Sokka." Jet felt his smirk twist into something mischievous. "We're gonna win a great victory against the Fire Nation today." 

The flash of emotion across Sokka's face told him it cut  _ exactly  _ where he'd intended it to.

Sokka was led off into the forest, The Duke and Sneers pulled the cart down into the valley, and Longshot headed off to his own special post. Everything was falling into place, with only one loose end left. 

Jet returned to the hideout, waking the two benders from their late morning, and had them get ready. 

"As quickly as you can. The Fire Nation wakes up early, I hear." 

The two were still sleepily rubbing at their eyes by the time Jet brought them to the weak little stream feeding into the reservoir. He showed them what he needed done, pointing out the little geysers dotting the area. The two caught on quickly, with a minimal pep talk beforehand, and summoned the water with little trouble. 

Their perfect synchronicity and the sheer power they unleashed was eerie, even a bit unsettling, but it was exactly what Jet needed. "Yes! Good job. A few more geysers and the reservoir will be full." 

"Look! There's another vent!" Aang chirped, dashing over to it. 

"You two keep it up. I've gotta check on the other guys." 

"Okay. When we're done, we'll meet you over there." Katara's soft voice assured him. Jet flinched. 

"Actually, it'd be better to meet back up at the hideout. Less likely to give away our plans and movements, you know." 

"Oh." She sounded disappointed. "Okay, then."

"Come on, Katara!" Aang's chipper attitude distracted her. 

Jet breathed a sigh of relief. 

\---

Seeing Aang and Katara standing near the pathway into the valley, Jet realized he'd relaxed too soon. He should have realized Katara was more stubborn than she seemed, if she'd survived this long with a brother like  _ that.  _

Aang realized their plans first, eyes darting between the barrels of jelly and the stone walls of the town.

Katara, sweet Katara, still held faith in him. "Jet wouldn't do that!" She argued passionately. Still, Aang opened his glider, rushing towards the edge of the cliff. Reacting impulsively, Jet flung himself into it, knocking the glider away. Only the airbender's quick instincts kept it from being a fatal mistake. 

"Yes, I would." He asserted. 

"Jet? Why?" Katara sounded devastated. 

"You would, too, if you just stopped to think. Remember what the Fire Nation did to your mother. We can't let them do that to anyone else, ever again."

"This isn't the answer!" Katara argued. 

"I want you to understand me, Katara." Jet pleaded. He switched to a different approach. If Katara was really sour at Sokka for his  _ difference in opinion _ , she might be open to his reasoning. "I thought your brother would understand, but-"

"Where's Sokka?" She demanded, that hard edge to her voice suddenly appearing.

Whoops, wrong move. Jet scrambled to recover. "Katara…" 

Her expression twisted into a grimace. A powerful surge of water distanced them in an instant, throwing him to the ground. Tears streamed down her face as she held her fighting stance. 

"We need to get to the dam!" Aang shouted, diving for his glider. 

Jet snarled. Traitors, all of them! He'd thought they hadn't been infected, but the poison of those damned ash-makers ran deep.

He swung his blades around, using them to trap the glider. "You're not going anywhere without this!" 

Aang danced away. "I'm not gonna fight you, Jet!" The airbender claimed. 

"You'll have to if you want your glider back!" Jet snarled. 

Abandoning Katara, Jet chased after Aang deep into the woods. They were evenly matched, Aang's bending giving him as much freedom in the trees as Jet's unique blades did. For once, instead of feeling like freedom, like power, they felt like restraint. They could only reach so far, could only dig so deeply, could only grip so tightly, whereas the airbender had full freedom, held back only by his lack of familiarity with the forest. 

This wasn't a fight Jet would win, but that wasn't the objective here. 

The fight dragged on, Jet chasing Aang as far away from the reservoir as he could manage.

His fatal mistake had been forgetting about Katara. 

She pulled huge streams of water from the little creek, slamming into him with enough force to knock the wind out of him. The second pulse, and he felt a rib crack. A third, and his back slammed into the sturdy trunk of a tree, the rib snapping fully out of place. He steadied his breathing, keeping it shallow, and was unable to defend as the final blast turned to ice around him. 

Katara panted with exhaustion and fury. Tears began to prick at her eyes once more. "Why, Jet?" She breathed, disbelief evident in her tone. "I can't believe I trusted you." Her hands gripped into fists, fury overtaking her regret. 

Jet finally recognized the hard edge to her voice was ice, cold, ruthless, punishing. At least the very real ice she'd encased him in was helping with the broken rib. 

"You lied to me! You're sick and twisted and I trusted you!" 

Before Jet could come up with a suitable response, the All Clear sounded from down in the valley. Despite everything, they'd still secured their victory. 

He sent back the answering whistle and allowed the smug smirk to twist onto his features.

"You're too late."

"No!" Katara gasped. 

Aang tried to dash off, having retrieved his glider, but it had taken too much damage and he failed to lift off. They watched with horror as the burning arrow launched across the dam, setting the blasting jelly ablaze. The water they had obediently collected burst forth, rushing across the valley and into the earthen walls of the town, drowning the Fire Nation scum and all the traitors who'd tolerated them alike. 

"Sokka didn't make it in time." Aang said, defeated. Jet scoffed. Of course not. Pipsqueak and Smellerbee were too good for that. 

"All those people…" Katara mourned. "Jet, you monster!"

"This was a victory, Katara!" He reminded her. "The Fire Nation is gone and this valley will be safe."

"It  _ will  _ be safe!" Jet felt the wind knocked out of him by the horribly familiar sound of that traitor's, Sokka's, voice. "Without you!" 

Heavy footsteps and a deep lowing accompanied him, as he crested the rise astride the bison. 

"I warned the villagers of your plan, just in time." He explained to them. 

Jet growled furiously. "What?!" The damn  _ traitor!  _ He never should have trusted him! He knew from the damn  _ start _ the guy was a Fire Nation sympathiser!

"At first, they didn't believe me. The Fire Nation soldiers assumed I was a spy." Sokka continued. 

_ You  _ were  _ a spy!  _ Jet thought. 

"But one man vouched for me. The old man  _ you  _ attacked." 

_ That you paid off. _ Jet couldn't believe this. He'd been outwitted at his own game by this damned oaf. 

"He urged them to trust me. We got everyone out in time." 

Jet slumped as far as he was able, held in place by the thick ice. He began to shiver, his body heat being sapped out. His jaw clenched with familiar rage. 

"Sokka, you  _ idiot!  _ We could have freed this valley!"

"Who would be free?" Sokka snapped. "Everyone would be dead!"

"You  _ traitor!"  _ Jet snarled, finally voicing the accusation aloud. 

Sokka's eyes widened, a guilty look flashing through them. He swallowed and looked away. 

"No, Jet." Katara cut in. "You became the traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people." 

Sokka let out a heavy breath, seeming shocked. Katara smiled up at him. 

"Katara? You, too?" Jet couldn't believe it. Just hours ago, she'd been wrapped around his fingers, eating out of the palm of his hand. She would have given him anything he asked for. 

How swiftly those damned ash-makers swayed loyalty. 

He vowed never to make the same mistakes again. 


	9. The Blue Spirit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is an apology for makin yall read 6800 words of jet thinking last chapter  
> this is 7400 words of ROMANCE TROPE GOOP! SICKFIC TIME BABEY!

It was stupid of him, going out on that rickety boat. He should have learned long ago that tempting fate was a fool's gambit, especially with his awful luck. As usual, Aang had swept in moments before imminent danger, dragging him back to safety.

Unlike usual, though, that safety didn't last long. 

The waves were just so huge and Appa so ill-suited for travel during a storm, it wasn't long before he was underwater again. 

As his consciousness slipped away, he imagined he saw that familiar scarred face diving to his rescue. 

\---

The room Sokka woke up in was distinctly unfamiliar, but he got a creeping sense of recognition anyway. The dark metal of the walls draped with red tapestries brought with it a sense of nostalgia. How like Zuko's bedroom, back at the palace, just like when they were kids… 

Sokka sat up abruptly, heart hammering in his chest. The tapestries bore the familiar Fire Nation insignia, leaving no room to doubt he was _not_ where he was meant to be. 

The hatch creaked open, revealing a familiar face, gentle golden eyes searching out his own. 

"Oh, you're awake." Zuko's raspy voice was quiet, at odds with the panic Sokka felt waking up here.

"Where am I? What am I doing here?" He demanded. Zuko closed the hatch as quietly as he could behind him, the metal creaking in protest regardless of his intentions.

"This is my room, aboard my ship. Do you remember what happened?" 

Sokka searched his memory, settling back down on the black mattress. Zuko joined him, folding his legs underneath him, and the familiarity of it all jostled something inside him.

"Some, but not much. It's like it's foggy… I remember going out on that fishing boat, and the storm coming in. We weren't able to turn back in time. I think… I remember Aang coming? On Appa? But I don't remember much after that." 

Zuko hummed in consideration. "Your boat capsized. The Avatar was able to rescue you from the boat, but his bison got hit by another wave. My ship was nearby, following him, you know, like we do." Sokka snorted. Zuko glared, the effect ruined by the fact that he was also flushing with embarrassment. "A-anyway… he got everyone else back on but you were still sinking so I kind of… dived in after you. Without thinking." 

"Oh." Sokka ran his hand through his hair, just now realizing that it was undone and also wet. "Thanks, I guess." 

Zuko nodded. "I couldn't… there was a chance you were in danger." He said, as though it were a full explanation. 

An uncomfortable silence dragged on, Zuko looking pointedly away from him while he gathered his thoughts. 

Despite the dampness of his hair, he didn't feel particularly wet or cold. He patted his torso. Yep, all dry. 

But…

"Zuko? Where did I get these clothes?" 

Instead of his usual blue tunic and leggings, he was wearing a red and gold ensemble, a loose-fitting robe and pants. 

"You, uh, your clothes were all wet, so… they're drying now." Zuko offered. 

"Uh-huh. That doesn't tell me where these ones came from, though." 

Zuko mumbled through his response, fiddling with the hem of his pants. It seemed like he'd changed, too, wearing a more casual outfit instead of his usual armor. 

"Sorry, I didn't catch that. You'll have to speak up." 

"They're my pyjamas." Zuko bit out.

"Oh." Sokka considered the clothes he was wearing again. It was hard to imagine the stuffy Prince, with all of his stiff fabrics and armored pieces, wearing something like this. "They're pretty comfortable."

Zuko nodded stiffly. "I thought… well, other than Uncle, I'm the only one on the ship close to your height, and there's no way you'd fit anything of his, and maybe since we know each other it might be less weird, although things have been pretty weird lately, so maybe it's actually more weird-" 

"You're rambling." Sokka interrupted. It was a bad habit they both had, using a bunch of words to mask their discomfort, and this was far from the first time he'd had to disrupt a deluge of words like this. "They fit just fine, and I guess it's not all that weird. I needed _something_ to change into. This is fine." 

"Good! Good. That's… good?" Zuko flushed down to his neck, looking anywhere but at Sokka.

"Did you…" Sokka gestured to the outfit. "While I was unconscious?" 

"Oh!" Zuko waved his arms defensively. "No! I wouldn't- the medic- you weren't breathing, he resuscitated you, got the water out. He's the one who helped you change, I just brought over the clothes." 

"Okay." Sokka searched his face. "Why are you acting so weird?" 

"What?! I'm not acting weird! You're acting weird!" 

Zuko abruptly rose to his feet, rushing out the door and slamming it behind him. The loud metallic clang rang throughout the ship. A long moment passed, Sokka trying to sort out what had just happened, before the hatch creaked open again. 

"Uh, dinner- in the mess hall, soon." Zuko managed, before closing the hatch behind him again. 

"Wait, Zuko!" The Prince did not return. "I don't know where the mess hall is…" 

\---

It was strange, being given full freedom on what was technically an enemy ship. He hadn't been locked into the room, and the sailors were friendly, giving him directions as he asked for them. 

On the way to the mess hall ("Big door on your left, can't miss it, it's where all the noise is coming from."), he overheard… strange snippets of conversation. 

"Is that-?" One sailor murmured. 

"Yeah, that's him." Another chuckled in response.

"I wonder if it's really true, what the girl said?" The first pondered. 

"Gotta be. What reason would she have to lie about that? And you saw the way Prince Zuko dived in like an idiot." The other grinned. 

"Don't let _him_ hear you say that!" The first warned with a guffaw, no longer keeping his voice low. 

Sokka shook his head, pushing down his rising curiosity, and walked through the open doors of the mess hall into the cheery atmosphere within. 

The full crew, likely minus a few guards and maybe the helmsman, was settled into benches along the long tables, spooning food from the large dishes scattered at strategic points. Zuko was nowhere to be seen, but his uncle sat nestled between two other sailors, engaged in lively debate on the relative merits of different instruments. It seemed he was carrying the debate himself, offering most of the opinions, and was slowly warming the others up to the tsungi horn. He waved when he noticed Sokka hovering in the entryway, gesturing him over to the table. 

"Come, come! Eat something! You must be famished after your ordeal!" The jovial old man chuckled. 

"I am, actually. What's on the menu?" 

The sailors seated across from Zuko's uncle shifted, making room for Sokka to sit between them. He drew curious glances, but none of the hostility he should rightly expect. 

"Pickled fish and dried vegetables!" The man laughed. "The freshest the ship has to offer!"

"Ah, preserved food! My favorite!" Sokka joked back, serving himself a plate. "Mmm, but the rice smells good."

"It's jasmine rice. We keep a well-stocked tea cabinet around here, you see." 

Sokka grinned. "I wouldn't doubt it. Zuko's told me about your world-famous love for the stuff." 

The sailors murmured to each other, sharing quiet chuckles and pointed looks at him. The attention was starting to grow uncomfortable. 

Uncle Iroh waved him off, holding a hand to his face in mock-embarrassment. "Surely, it is not that notable! The way the boy talks, I can't go five minutes without the stuff!"

In lieu of a response, Sokka gave a pointed glance to the little teapot atop a portable flame sitting near the man's elbow. 

Uncle Iroh let out a hearty guffaw. "I suppose my habits speak for themselves, after all!" 

Sokka bit into a strip of something-or-other, unrecognizable after the dehydration process, and tears sprang to his eyes. 

"Oh, spirits, I think my mouth is on fire." He waved a hand in front of his face, fanning the imaginary flames, almost expecting actual fire to spill from his lips. Uncle Iroh pushed a glass of water near him.

"Here, drink! And have some of the rice, it will help." 

Sokka gratefully followed his advice, the burn cooling to a more tolerable level. He felt his nose running, and almost wiped in on his sleeve before remembering this shirt belonged to Zuko.

"Give the boy a napkin." Uncle Iroh called, a nearby sailor responding to the order quickly. Sokka accepted it gratefully. "I'm sorry, it completely slipped my mind. Your people don't have much in the way of spicy food." 

Sokka shook his head, eating more of the rice. "You guys all eat that stuff?!" 

Following Uncle Iroh's lead, none of the sailors were laughing outright at him, but he noticed with embarrassment nearly all of them were stifling laughter. 

"You become used to the sensation. It's really quite delicious, once you are able to enjoy it." The old man explained calmly. "I'll ask the cook to prepare you something with less spice." He rose from the bench, making his way over to the kitchen. 

Left alone now, the sailors leaned in towards their unexpected guest. 

"Hey, kid. Are you really Prince Zuko's soulmate?" 

Sokka choked on his rice, not expecting such a direct question. They knew?! 

The man who asked slapped him firmly between the shoulder blades, dislodging the grains and opening his airway again.

"What?!"

"How do you know? Love at first sight?" Another sailor grinned, conspiratorially. 

"What? No, that's not-" 

"Come on, guys, quit teasing him." Sokka sighed in relief. At least _someone_ was on his side! "He came in here wearing Prince Zuko's clothes, we already _know_ what they're getting up to!" 

Amid the raucous laughter, Sokka took back every positive thought he'd had about any of these guys.

"Ah, I leave for only a moment and you all bully the boy. I'm disappointed." Uncle Iroh's voice cut through the clamor, laced with no small amount of amusement. He leaned over Sokka's shoulder, handing off a bowl. "Here. We had some cured meats from an Earth Kingdom port that hadn't been spiced yet. Eat your fill." 

"Ooh, meat!" Sokka accepted the bowl happily. The mystery jerky was a bit too salty, but far more edible that whatever mouth-burning mystery spice the rest of them were eating. He ignored the snickers amongst the sailors at his enthusiasm and scarfed the whole bowl down. 

A sudden hush fell across the mess hall, leaving it quiet enough to hear the click of boots taking measured steps across the floor. 

Sokka looked up, mouth still full of unchewed jerky, as Zuko approached. He wore his armored chestplate again, looking as stuffy and pompous as he normally did. 

"Oh, you're still eating… um, meet me on the bridge when you're done, then. Goodbye." The Prince turned sharply back to the doors after his curt statement, sweeping back out of the hall. Murmured conversation bubbled back up after he disappeared, the enthusiasm curbed. It seemed Zuko was less than well-liked around here. Sokka resumed his chewing. 

"Wonder what that was all about." The sailor seated beside him murmured. Sokka shrugged. 

"What, you guys don't have some kind of telepathic connection? Can't tell what he's thinking just by looking at him?"

Sokka tossed a piece of pickled fish right into the sailor's grinning face. 

The smile fell along with the food. "Hey, you shouldn't waste food." 

\---

Zuko was pacing impatiently by the time he made it up to the bridge. Sokka knocked on the open entryway to announce his presence, but Zuko was still startled enough to trip over his own feet. The other man in the room, presumably the helmsman, gave him a judgemental look.

"Sokka! You're here!"

"You told me to come here." He reminded him. 

"Oh, right. Of course. Uh…" Zuko brushed himself off, pulling himself together. "I wanted you to tell us where your friends might be." 

Shock quickly burned into anger. "That's what this is?! You, what, kidnapped me to interrogate me?!" 

"What? No!" Zuko smoothed a hand over his head, holding a palm up defensively. "That- sorry, I know how that sounds. I didn't mean-"

"Then what? You just asked to make small talk? 'Oh, nice weather we're having, how was your dinner, where's the Avatar?' You expect me to believe that?" 

"No! I'm asking because… I don't want you to feel like a prisoner here. If I know where your friends will be, I can make sure you can get back to them."

"Oh." The fury bled out of him. 

"I mean, I'd rather you stay, but you already made it pretty clear…"

"Yeah." Sokka sighed, looking over at the helmsman, who kept glancing at them out of the corner of his eye. Nosy sailors, the lot of them. "Normally, I'd assume they'd be looking for me, but you would have noticed the giant flying bison roaming around."

Zuko nodded curtly.

"So… probably they went back to the original plan, heading North. We didn't have a next stop in mind yet." Sokka pushed his loose hair back, scratching at his scalp. "I don't think Aang can read a map." He laughed, but it died out with the concerned look in Zuko's eyes. "What? What is it?"

Zuko looked away, nodding to the map on display in the center of the room. He tapped a spot on it, what Sokka recognized as their current position. "We're here. So North is…" Zuko slid his finger up, landing on a red square. "There's a Fire Nation fortress here. If you're right, they'll be passing right by it. I don't need to tell you that that's a dangerous place for them to be." 

The wind was knocked out of him in one slow breath. "Then… they're in big trouble, aren't they?" 

Zuko nodded. "I'll… gather information." Zuko moved to leave the room, glancing back just as he reached the door. "I'll get you back to your sister as soon as I can." He promised. 

"And Aang?" Sokka prompted.

Zuko left without another word.

\---

Sokka stayed on the bridge for a while, studying the map and asking the helmsman questions. Despite his discomfort, he answered dutifully, acknowledging Zuko's trust of the foreign boy. 

It was a lot different from reading a star chart, which Sokka was used to, but it was honestly much easier to pick up. He traced the paths they'd taken so far, noting several marks and pins in the map tracing their route already, and estimated distances and times to approximate Appa's usual flight speed. Judging by his estimate, it would have taken a full day for Aang to have reached the fortress Zuko had indicated. He would have needed to stop to rest nearby, putting him far too close to be safe. He hoped he was wrong, that Aang had taken another stupid detour and that Katara had given into his whims again, that they'd headed West and ended up… where… this island over here? Maybe the volcano nearby? That probably sounded like fun, right? 

Sokka tried not to think about the scared and determined look on Aang's face after the Temple of Roku. 

There was no way he _didn't_ go directly North. 

A cough rattled Sokka's chest. He attempted to hold back another, but it escaped and amplified, sending him into a fully-fledged coughing fit. 

The helmsman pat his back, rubbing his shoulder blades. The hand paused, then moved to press against his forehead. 

"Kid, go see the medic. You're burning up." He ordered. 

"What? But I feel fine." He argued, reluctant to leave the map. 

"Listen, no matter how long you stare at it, the fortress isn't gonna move. You heard Prince Zuko, he's already checking it out. Go see the medic." 

Sokka gave in, turning towards the door, before remembering he wasn't familiar with the ship. "Um, where…?"

\---

Between the helmsman's directions and a helpful sailor on deck, Sokka made it to the med bay. An older gentleman, with a bald head and a long beard, was taking stock of his shelves inside. 

"What is it? More burn cream- oh. It's you." The man seemed surprised to see Sokka hovering in his doorway. 

"Expecting someone else?" He asked, sliding into the room proper and closing the hatch. 

"Oh, you know. Prince Zuko's training while frustrated again. I always expect someone to come in with some minor injury. What do you need?" 

Sokka frowned. That didn't sound like 'gathering information'. Still, he was here for a reason. "I've got a bad cough coming on and the helmsman thinks I have a fever." He explained. 

The medic hummed. "You were out in that storm and nearly drowned. I'd honestly be surprised if you _didn't_ get pneumonia." He swept over, feeling Sokka's forehead and directing him to sit on the cot. 

As he did so, Sokka felt a wave of memory hit him like a punch to the gut. 

He'd been here before. 

This was the same cot in the same med bay where he'd last talked with Zuko in his dreams. The memory of the freshly burned skin, still bubbled and raw, turned his stomach. 

"Woah, there. Lie down. You look like you're about to faint." The medic gently guided Sokka into lying properly on the cot, but he fought him off. 

"Not here…" Sokka pleaded. "Please? Anywhere but here." 

The medic scratched his chin through his beard. "Well, Prince Zuko had you rest in his chambers last time. I guess he won't mind if I have you do that again. Would that be better?"

Sokka nodded. "Yes, please." 

\---

Uncle always berated him for training while frustrated, but it was really the only reliable way for Zuko to cool off. He needed to burn off the excess energy to recenter himself. 

And with Sokka suddenly on board the ship, he had a lot of frustration to burn. 

It used to be so easy! They could talk about anything and they would just work it out! Now, he finally has the chance to have a normal conversation with the guy again, and he keeps making it weird or screwing it up! 

The crew he was sparring with only narrowly deflected his blasts, flying wide of their marks but burning more hotly than usual. They grumbled about it, but didn't back down.

Zuko kept an eye on the sun as they went, anxiously waiting for it to set. As the sky bled red, he waved off the crew, letting them know training was over. Uncle offered him a cup of tea to help relax, but Zuko brushed past him and towards the living quarters. 

"I'm going to go bathe and meditate. Don't disturb me." He ordered. Uncle hummed and nodded. 

Moving quickly and with purpose, he made his way to his chambers. Slamming the door behind him, he made a beeline to his armoire, digging for a suitable outfit. Coming away with an armful of black fabric and a mask, he closed the wardrobe and turned to leave the room. 

It was only then that he noticed he wasn't alone. 

In his bed, wrapped tightly in his comforter, sweating like a roasting pig-chicken, was Sokka. The boy mumbled in his sleep, shivering. An empty cup sat near him on the floor, a few drops of some green substance still pooled at the bottom. He hesitated, wanting to be sure that Sokka was okay, that he was being taken care of, but he reminded himself of his time limit. If he was going to make it to Pohuai Stronghold and back before dawn, he needed to be quick. 

The broadswords hung on the wall slid easily into their hidden sheath, before being wrapped into the bundle of clothing. 

With one last glance at Sokka, seeing his condition unchanged, he slipped through the window, sliding down to the deck. 

\---

The little river boat made good time, the newer model proving much faster than the one that had been destroyed in the skirmish with the pirates, especially with the heat of the flames Zuko produced in his anxiety. 

He steered the boat quickly and quietly towards the fortress, slipping past the guard under cover of darkness. Finally, he was near enough to make his entry, mooring the boat in a secluded cove draped with low-hanging branches.

From here on out, no fire. Fire was always bright, sometimes loud, and would bring suspicion back on him all too easily. Knowing benders as he did, few ever relied on other skills to confront problems, making the broadswords his ideal cover.

It helped that he had far more talent in _them_ than he'd ever had with his elemental skills. 

He slipped through the shadows towards the fortress, keeping a close eye on the movement of the guards. No need to be hasty, to arouse suspicion. This was only a reconnaissance mission. 

Above him, the sound of a terse argument caught his attention. He drew near, using the distraction of the guard nearby to scale the wall. The roof of the post was poorly lit, flat enough to be hidden, and posed the perfect hiding place, but the space between was too bright to make it past safely. 

He clung to the wall below, listening to the two voices shout at one another. One was apparently the official in charge of this fortress, but the other was disturbingly familiar. 

Zhao. 

The Commander was demanding resources to aid him in his quest to recover the Avatar, intent on snatching Zuko's prize out from under him. 

The arrival of a messenger hawk drew their attention, and Zuko used the distraction to scurry up. 

The hawk bore a message direct from the Fire Lord himself, giving Zhao yet another promotion, as thanks for his 'admirable service in ousting traitors from within the Fire Nation', in reference to the part he played in arresting the Fire Sages. 

The newly-appointed Admiral Zhao immediately used his freshly-granted power to simply take the resources he demanded as he pleased: in this case, a famously efficient team of archers. 

Zuko nearly cursed, refraining only in the interest of keeping himself hidden. 

\---

Zhao gloated for some time before Zuko was finally able to descend from his hiding place, the normal guard rotation resuming. 

He could feel the dawn too-rapidly approaching as he finally returned to his little river boat, and he pushed the vessel past its limits to return as soon as possible. Dawn had already broken as he did, and he changed quickly before guiding the smaller vessel back into its place on the ship. He just finished tying his hair back up before the lookout spotted him, opening the hangar to draw the boat in. 

Zuko ignored the crew's questions as he swept by, making a beeline to his quarters. 

Inside, Sokka still slept, but it seemed his fever had broken sometime in the night. He'd thrown the blanket across the room, torn his clothes off, and lay, mostly naked, on the cool metal of the floor. 

Zuko drew closer, kneeling next to the unconscious boy. "Sokka?" He called, softly at first. "Sokka, wake up." 

The boy stretched, rolling away from him. 

"Sokka." Zuko said, more firmly. 

Belatedly, he realized this was not the spirit world, where they usually dreamed. He could reach out and… 

He grabbed Sokka by the shoulder, gently shaking him awake. The boy startled, eyes flying open, staring at Zuko in confusion. The blue of his eyes was cloudy, glassy, unfocused. 

"How are you doing?" Zuko asked, softly. The skin under his fingers was warm, too warm, especially considering Sokka was not, as far as he was aware, a firebender. 

"M'hot." Sokka whined. "Too hot here. Where's the ice?" 

Zuko felt a fond smile creep across his face. "You're not at the South Pole anymore, remember?"

"Mmm… Yeah, we're on the sun now. Why are we on the sun?" 

"Okay. I'm going to go get the medic. You stay here." 

Sokka gasped. "Why? Are you hurt?" 

Zuko paused with his hand on the hatch, looking back at Sokka's confused expression. "Yes." He decided to say, getting the feeling Sokka wasn't present enough to understand a real explanation. 

"Oh no!" Sokka struggled to sit up. "Where?"

Zuko sighed, crossing the room and forcing Sokka to lay back down. 

Sokka's face split into a mischievous grin. "I could kiss it better for you." 

Zuko felt himself go hot, face flushing. "No thanks." His voice squeaked badly enough to sound foreign in his ears. He cleared his throat. "I'm just gonna get the medic, okay?" 

"Aww." Sokka flopped back to the floor, an exaggerated expression of disappointment on his face. Zuko slipped out of the hatch, closing it gently behind him. 

He leaned against it, letting out a heavy sigh. 

"Long night, Prince Zuko?" His uncle's amused voice echoed slightly in the hall, startling him out of his skin.

"Uncle!" 

"How is the boy doing, nephew? I heard from the medic he is very ill." Uncle's voice took on a gravely serious tone. 

Zuko indicated the hall behind him. "I was just about to go retrieve him. His fever's broken but he's delirious." 

"Well, then, let us make haste, hmm?" 

\---

Medic Isha clucked as he hovered over Sokka, now unconscious. The boy had begun to shiver again, fever spiking once more, and they'd redressed him, tucking him into the thick winter blankets to sweat it out. 

"This isn't good. He's not responding to the medication we have. We may need to make our way to a proper market to find something to help him." 

Zuko frowned. He was reluctant to abandon the Avatar's trail, now for various reasons. "The Pohuai Stronghold is nearby. We can request supplies there. I'm certain they'll be well-stocked." 

Uncle looked surprised. "Prince Zuko, are you sure that's wise?"

"It's worth the risk." Zuko said with finality, turning to leave. 

As he opened the hatch, he ran into a crewman, fist raised to knock on the door. 

"Oh, um, Prince Zuko. I was just coming to fetch you. There's, ah, another ship hailing us." 

Zuko grit his teeth. "What do they want?" 

"I'm not sure. They've signalled an order to let them board." 

"Under what authority?!" 

"Well, sir, under the authority of the Admiral." 

Zuko pushed past the soldier, stalking up the stairs. What could that _asshole_ want this time? 

By the time he made it on deck, the shadow of Zhao's ship had already overtaken it, sending an unseasonable chill up his spine. 

The gangplank dropped down, allowing Zhao's men to board. They approached Zuko confidently, with authority, and whipped open a scroll for him to read. 

"By order of the Fire Lord, all information regarding the Avatar is to be reported directly to Admiral Zhao. He has been given full authority over the search for the Avatar at this time." 

Zuko felt the smoke puff out of his nose as he struggled to keep his temper in check. 

"Oh, Zhao has been promoted? We owe him our congratulations, then!" Uncle's voice was jolly, coming up behind Zuko to pat him on the shoulder. It did nothing to assuage his anger. 

"We have nothing to report." Zuko asserted. "Get off my ship and let us pass." 

"Admiral Zhao has given orders not to allow anyone in or out of the area. Turn back." 

"Off. My. Ship." Zuko spat along with a shower of sparks. The soldiers complied, returning to their own vessel and drawing up the gangplank. 

As their ship faded from view, Zuko slumped against the railing, the fight draining out of him. 

"Prince Zuko, what do you want to do? Admiral Zhao has made it very clear he will not support our efforts in any way. And, besides, if he learns you have one of the Avatar's companions aboard-" 

"I know!" Zuko threw an arm out, fire trailing unbidden in its wake. Uncle was unphased, continuing to level an expression of calm concern at him. "I know." He repeated, softly, despondent. "Just… give me time to think." 

\---

Zuko returned to his chambers, stripping methodically out of his armor. The gears turned in his head. Would it be better to move on, searching out another harbor town that might house an apothecary with the supplies they needed? Or was the risk to infiltrate the fortress worth it? 

Zhao didn't have the Avatar yet, that was certain, but he was suddenly a far greater threat than before. Surely, it'd take only the slightest foray into the town they'd just left to learn that the Avatar had been there, and he now had the manpower to canvas the area thoroughly. Zuko still had a skeleton crew on a little patrol ship, relying on marketplace rumors to stalk his quarry. 

If he were to leave to seek out the medicine he needed, would he lose his chance forever? 

"Zuko?" Sokka's voice crackled, muffled through the blankets he was cocooned in. 

"You're awake." Zuko dropped the breastplate unceremoniously, rushing over to the mattress. 

"Can you get me some water?" 

Zuko glanced around. A little pitcher, half-full of water, sat on the low table. Near the bed, an empty cup sat beside a small tub, filled with more ice than water. Zuko filled the cup quickly, peeling back the comforter to reveal Sokka's sweaty face. The boy attempted to take the cup with shaky hands. Zuko allowed him to guide it, but didn't let go, helping him gulp down the water like a dying man in the desert. 

"Thanks." Sokka cracked a smile, immediately ruined by a cacophany of harsh coughs. 

A small towel, folded square, fell from his forehead as he coughed. Zuko retrieved it, dipping it into the iced water to cool it off and wringing it out. 

"Lay back. I'm giving you your towel back." 

Sokka followed instructions obediently, humming happily at the coolness of the towel. 

"Oh, that feels so nice…" 

Zuko couldn't help the small smile tweaking his lips. "I'm glad. You seem more… yourself now." 

"Hmm, yeah… I still feel kind of foggy, though. Like my brain's as stuffy as my nose." He sniffled for emphasis. Or just because he was very, very ill. 

"Why are you in here and not the med bay?" Zuko asked, the curiosity having burned at him but having been unable to ask before. 

"Oh… Um, it's gonna sound stupid, but…" Sokka looked pointedly away, examining the tapestry hanging nearest the bed, instead. "I couldn't help but remember… the last time I was in there. The last time we talked." 

Zuko recalled. It was so soon after the day everything changed. Their conversation had ended on a sour note, Zuko still hurt and angry, grappling with the enormity of his most recent failure, not knowing it would be the last time they'd get to meet like that. "I'm sorry. I said some harsh things back then." 

"That's not-" Sokka turned back to him, looking him in the eyes. He retrieved an arm from the depths of his tightly-wound cocoon of blankets, reaching for Zuko's face. He flinched, but allowed him to graze his thumb along the scar's edge. "I couldn't stay in there remembering seeing you hurt. I thought… for the longest time, I thought you'd _died._ " 

Zuko felt like his heart stopped. "What?"

"For, what, two and a half, three years? The deer spirit just… never showed up. It had gone a long time without showing up before, but… seeing you hurt so bad, and then… never again? What was I supposed to think?" 

Zuko held the hand against his cheek, feeling something fall out of place within him. "I thought… all that time, I thought you hated me. I thought I'd finally screwed up badly enough, said something awful enough, even disgusted you with- with my _face_ , but…"

Sokka shook his head. A little laugh, derisive, self-deprecating, escaped him, setting off another little coughing fit. "No… even after all of this, even when I tried to just hate you, to let go of everything… I couldn't." 

Zuko crumbled, leaning down to press his forehead against the cool towel, that barest separation still between them. "I don't deserve your forgiveness…" He murmured. 

"You really don't." Sokka agreed. "You've been a stubborn ass." 

"I'm sorry." 

"But, you know what? You've always been a stubborn ass, and that didn't keep us from being friends before." 

Zuko pulled back to see Sokka's grin, the one that always pulled the breath from his chest. "I miss you." He admitted.

"Mmm. Miss you, too." Sokka murmured, breaking into a yawn that ended in several rib-cracking coughs. Zuko pulled away from him, letting him turn away to cough, and stood. 

"I've got to go. Get some rest." 

"Mmkay." Sokka mumbled sleepily, tucking his face back into the blankets. "Night night."

"Good night, Sokka."

\---

Zuko released the river boat at sundown, having reached a firm decision. 

Even if they went off on a search for supplies, he couldn't be sure they'd find what they were looking for. How many ports would they have to check? Too many, and the entire time, Sokka would be sweating and shivering, suffering through his illness. 

No, the fortress was worth the risk. They imported supplies to their med bays from top-notch military suppliers. There was no question he'd find what he needed. 

He'd asked the medic before leaving, doubtlessly drawing his suspicion, but he knew what he was looking for now. 

He stowed the river boat in a new place, further from the fortress. He'd be infiltrating further in now, and needed to be more careful. 

Luck appeared to be on his side tonight, as a supply cart rolled past. He slipped underneath it, holding tight to the undercarriage. 

The guards were strict, searching every inch of the cart methodically. Zuko had plenty of time to slip from under to inside while they did so, riding the vehicle the rest of the way through the layered walls. 

From there, it was easy enough to hide himself among the piles of supplies from other carts that had apparently come in just before. He slid into a small space afforded by the stacked boxes, getting bearings. 

The nearby tower entrance was unguarded, all of the guards focused on sorting and stacking supplies, leaving openings in their rigid security. 

Zuko hurried up the spiraling staircase and on top of the final wall. 

In the interior yard, hundreds of guards were lined up. Luck after luck tonight. From high in the tower, Zhao gave a rousing speech to the assembly. 

Zuko's blood ran cold at his claim that he'd successfully captured the Avatar here, tonight. 

Lucky, lucky… was this luck? Zuko was no longer sure. Which took priority? Wresting his prize from Zhao's grasp? Or… 

He dropped a rope to the ground level around the opposite side of the tower, invisible with so many gathered to hear Zhao's words. From there, he had easy access to the drainage system, a quick and unguarded route into the tower itself. 

Whichever he came across first, the med bay or the Avatar, that would take priority. Lady Luck had led him this far, and he would be remiss not to trust her hand now. 

\---

The heavy guard at the end of the hall could only mean one thing. This had to be where the Avatar was being held. The guards were easily distracted, made lax by the presence of their fellows and willing to move on their own, believing they had backup. 

It was less than a minute before Zuko was inside the room. 

The airbender was fully restrained, the room far more suited to holding him than anything Zuko could have managed. The manacles fell away with several quick movements of his blades. 

The Avatar was… absolutely horrible at stealth. He yelled out endless questions, grating at Zuko's limited patience. The frogs were… weird, though. 

"Wait! My friend needs to suck on those frogs!" 

Zuko hesitated. He'd refrained from speaking so far to hide his identity, but… 

He pulled the Avatar with him around a dark corner, no guards in sight. He held a finger to the mouth of his mask, indicating the boy should stay quiet. He nodded, holding his lips together tightly. Zuko lifted the bottom of his mask. 

"Zuko?!" The boy shouted, before slapping his hands over his mouth. Zuko winced, glancing around for evidence they'd been heard. It seemed he'd successfully neutralized every nearby guard, for now. 

"What are the frogs?" He hissed.

"Oh!" The boy even whispered loudly. "My friend is sick! Uh, Katara, you know her, right? Since you know Sokka?" 

Zuko nodded. "The frogs are the cure?" 

He nodded vigorously. "The herbalist lady said if she sucked on a frozen wood frog it'd cure her fever! But she said they had to be frozen and these…"

"They're already thawing." Zuko sighed. "Sokka's sick, as well. I was here looking for medicine for him. Our troops are always well-stocked." 

"Really? Then why don't you have the medicine on your ship?" 

Spirits, this kid was annoying. Zuko felt his good eye twitch. 

"Oh, is it because you're banished? They don't give you the good stuff or something?"

"Just shut up! What matters is the medicine we have isn't working! If these frogs will help, then I'll help you get the frogs." 

"Really? That'd be great!" The kid completely forgot they were keeping quiet. Zuko slammed his mask back down, slapping a hand over the Avatar's mouth and dragging him off. 

\---

Their escape was only very narrowly successful, the guard having resumed rounds after the speech concluded. Zuko lost consciousness at some point, waking up in a forest clearing nowhere near the fortress, the sun already rising. 

"You're up! Come on, let's go get those frogs!" The Avatar chirped. 

Zuko rubbed his head, a pounding originating from the center of his forehead, where a tight knot had formed. "What happened?"

"Oh, one of the archers knocked you out. Your, uh, your mask is over there." The boy pointed somewhere to Zuko's left and, sure enough, the mask rested there, gently placed on a bed of leaves.

"Thank you…" He stuffed his hair back into the hood, sliding the mask into place. "Frogs?"

"Frogs!" The airbender spun his glider open. "Hold onto the glider, it'll be faster!" 

Zuko reluctantly agreed. This seemed like a less than ideal way to travel, but he had limited choices right now. 

The Avatar bent a gust of wind beneath them, shooting them off into the trees. Zuko was glad he'd put the mask back on, as it afforded him protection from flying into branches at high speed. The airbender seemed to be keeping them from his own face just fine, but the extra weight obviously threw off his balance. 

They ascended, sweeping over the canopy and towards a murky river. 

"Here we are!" The boy announced, dropping them heavily into the muddy riverbank, stumbling at the landing. "The frogs are hidden in the mud, you have to get in there deep." 

He reached his hand down, tongue sticking out in concentration, and reemerged with a fully-frozen frog.

"See? The herbalist said to get plenty, in case they thaw early. Like all the ones I had at the prison." He turned his back, picking up several more frogs. Zuko watched him, thrown off by the display of trust, but followed his lead, gathering a half-dozen of the frogs himself. His black clothes were caked in brown mud, likely ruining them completely, but he'd nearly lost far more in this reckless gambit, so he supposed it all worked out in the end. 

"Um, I don't wanna show you where we're staying, but…"

Zuko shook his head. "When Sokka is healthy, I'll have my men drop him off at the shore. So you can get him. I didn't mean to kidnap him or anything, so, um, truce? For now."

"Oh! Okay! That's… you're really nice, you know? Katara keeps saying she doesn't know what Sokka sees in you, but I think I do." 

Zuko let out a heavy breath. "I… appreciate that." 

"The invitation's still open, you know. If you want to help us fix the world and everything." 

Zuko squeezed the icy frog in his hand. Giving the mission to Zhao was a kick in the face, for sure. The moment it seemed to become possible, his father had entrusted the Avatar's capture to someone else, someone he trusted not to fail him. 

Still, wouldn't that make success that much more impressive? For him to swoop victory against such staggering odds? 

To pit him against an imposing opponent, his father gave him the opportunity to prove himself worthy, and then some. Even if… even if it wasn't his expected, or even desired, outcome, it could still…!

"I'm sorry. I don't think I can." 

"Oh. Okay then. I'll see you around, I guess. Since you're still gonna be following us and all." The airbender flicked the glider open once more, frogs stashed safely in his shirt, and sped off. 

Zuko slogged through the mud in his soft-soled shoes back to where he'd moored his boat. 

\---

"What is this! This is delicious!" Sokka groaned around the frozen frog. As it thawed in his mouth, his eyes cleared up and his skin cooled off, as if by magic. Zuko wondered if this was some sort of spiritual affliction common to the area, rather than a simple case of pneumonia. 

"Better?" He laughed. Sokka smiled at him, frog beginning to squirm. He laughed again, hiding his mouth behind his hand, as Sokka spat the frog out violently, wiping his tongue on the sleeve of Zuko's pyjama top he still wore. 

"Gross! What the hell was that?! Did you make me eat a frog?" 

Zuko shrugged. "The Avatar said it would work. Guess he was right." 

Sokka stilled. "You… ran into Aang?" 

Zuko nodded. 

"Is he… here?" Sokka made a face like he'd swallowed something sour.

"He's not." Sokka looked as surprised as Zuko was that he'd apparently passed up an opportunity to complete his mission. 

"Why not? I mean, I'm glad he's not, but… you know?" 

"I needed his cooperation to make sure you got better. He had the cure."

"Couldn't you have captured him after he told you about the frogs, then?"

Zuko frowned. "Are you sure you _don't_ want me to capture him, because you seem to be arguing the other way." 

Sokka shrugged. "I just don't get it."

Zuko chewed his lip. "He said Katara was also sick. I don't know where she is. You would have been upset with me if I left her alone like that." 

Sokka sighed heavily. "You know, you could just admit you can do the right thing just because it's the right thing. You don't have to make all these justifications to yourself." 

"I set up a rendezvous point with the Avatar. I'll bring you your clothes, and a couple of my men will accompany you to shore." 

He felt Sokka's eyes on him the entire time as he left the room once more. 

\---

Sokka watched the small boat chug off, back to the larger ship, dressed again in his Water Tribe blues, feeling the gap between himself and Zuko grow at the same time. 

Still, it was… changed, somehow. Maybe it was Zuko who had changed, maybe it was Sokka himself, maybe it was the object he clutched tightly in his fist, but… It felt like, when the time came, he could bridge that gap again. 

Appa's lowing drew him back into the present, Aang and Katara shouting enthusiastic greetings over the side of the saddle. 

"Sokka! You're alive! We were so worried!" Katara cried, reaching out a hand to help him up. 

Even Momo was happy to see him, wrapping his long tail around Sokka's face and hugging tight to his head. 

"You think Zuko's really gonna keep his word? He said 'truce', but…" Aang watched the smoke begin to thicken above the ship again as it began to move. 

"He always keeps his word." Sokka assured them. 

He held out his clenched fist, finally uncurling his fingers from around the object pressing its imprint into his palm.

Katara gasped. "Mom's necklace!" She lifted it as though terrified it might disappear or crumble into dust, and moved to clasp it around her neck. Fingers pressed to the familiar surface, tracing out its patterns, she murmured, "I thought…" 

"If he said 'truce', he meant 'truce'. We can trust him." 

"Where to next, though? We can't go North, that'll just lead us straight back to the fortress." Katara reminded them. 

"Actually, while I was looking at the maps on Zuko's ship, I did notice this one place…" 

Aang was just as excited about the active volcano as he'd expected him to be. Their course set, they flew off into the late morning.

Zuko's ship turned away slowly, heading to the nearby harbor town. 

Zuko was _always_ a man of his word. 


	10. The Fortune-Teller

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> since this is the 'kataang endgame setup episode', i decided to also make it a kataang centric chapter  
> if ur not a big fan, feel free to skip, altho i did slide a bit of soulmate/spirit lore in there too

Katara wasn't sure if Sokka really didn't remember much of his time on Zuko's ship, or if he was keeping secrets again, but she did remember the fever making her memory pretty foggy, and Sokka had apparently had the same illness.

She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, simply appreciating the return of her mother's necklace and moving on. 

No Fire Nation ships appeared on the horizon, even as they landed on the shores nearest that volcano Aang wanted to see, and she breathed a tentative sigh of relief. 

"Let's set up camp and go exploring in the morning, okay, Aang?" She suggested, passing down supplies to Sokka, already on the ground. 

The airbender slumped but did not argue. "Okay... I guess Appa  _ is _ pretty tired..." 

The bison lowed in agreement, curling his legs underneath his belly. 

"Thank you for being so understanding." Katara smiled at him, gently placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Aang beamed back up at her, bouncing back quickly from his disappointment. 

She really admired that about him, she had to admit. She, herself, had so much trouble letting go of negative emotions, of grudges, and had a bad habit of letting resentment simmer below the surface. Even after everything, she still felt that gnawing jealousy at her gut when she saw Aang waterbend, even knowing he'd been training as an airbender since he could walk. They really were just so different, in some ways. 

Sokka was quiet as he fished just downstream, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. She let him be, knowing how irritable he could be when he was in one of those moods, and sat near the fire with Aang. 

The boy had gathered several shells and a length of spare fishing line, deftly weaving them together. It was mesmerizing, watching him work. The look of complete concentration on his face was such a jarring difference from his usual carefree attitude, it always took her by surprise. 

"What are you making?" She asked. 

"Shh, it's a surprise!" He shot a grin at her, continuing to weave without looking. 

Sokka was having terrible luck, it seemed, his cursing growing louder over time. As the sun dipped low to the horizon, and Aang neared the end of his project, Sokka screamed with frustration at the river itself. 

"Katara! Where's the extra line? This damn jerk-fish just snapped my line!" He called, stomping over. 

"Uhh..." Katara glanced at Aang, his tongue stuck out the side of his mouth in concentration, tying a slip knot into the end of the shell jewelry. 

"All finished!" Aang announced, holding it aloft. 

"Is that the fishing line?! What the hell, Aang!" Sokka snatched the completed project away, glaring at it. "It's all tangled up, now!" 

"It's for Katara! To go in her hair!" Aang chirped, seemingly unphased by Sokka's ire. 

Katara held a hand over her heart, a wave of fondness for the airbender sweeping over her. "It is? That's so sweet!" 

"Ugh, this was my first chance to have something  _ fresh _ to eat in  _ days _ , and you tangled up the fishing line! Do you know what they serve on Fire Nation ships? It's all either pickled or  _ spicy! _ " 

Katara took the jewelry back from him, his attention still on Aang, and slipped it over her braid, tightening it to sit properly at the base. 

"Well, there's plenty of fresh fruit around here. You don't need to have meat with every meal, you know!" Aang argued cheerfully. Sokka glared. 

"How do I look?" Katara interrupted, showing off her hair, shells decorating it. 

"Wow..." Aang turned a dopey grin at her. 

Sokka rolled his eyes. He tossed the now-useless fishing rod to the ground, stalking off into the nearby woods, grumbling under his breath. "Dang lucky  _ jerks,  _ get to be all  _ mushy  _ and  _ oogie  _ with their  _ soulmate _ , 'cause  _ their  _ soulmates aren't  _ jerks _ who're trying to  _ sell us out to the damn Fire Lord... _ " 

"He seems upset." Aang noted, uselessly. 

Katara sighed. "Leave him be. He's just in a mood since he can't have meat for dinner." 

"I'm never in a mood, and I don't ever have meat for dinner." Aang pointed out. Katara laughed. 

"Um, guys?!" Sokka's panicked voice squeaked out, drifting from just past the treeline, followed by the nasal roar of a platypus-bear. 

"Oh, no..." Katara rushed off, Aang close on her heels, following the sounds to their source. 

Sokka was standing between an unperturbed man and an angry platypus-bear, brandishing his boomerang to draw the beast's attention. The glint of red sunlight off the bladed edge caught the beast's eye, allowing Sokka to lead it away from the man. 

Katara used the opportunity to rush over to him. "Are you hurt? What happened?" 

"Oh, no, I'm fine." The strangely calm man assured her. "Just as predicted, I have had a safe journey so far." 

Katara glanced to the angry platypus-bear, then back at the man. "Safe?" 

"Yes! I have yet to be injured!" 

"That's..." She was too confused to argue, turning back to Aang. "Can you do something? Sokka can't distract it for long!" 

"Leave it to me!" The airbender sent a gust of wind into the beast's back, drawing its attention away from Sokka, who had scrambled his way into the boughs of a tree. The beast roared into Aang's face. "Uh-oh." 

"Aang!" Katara wailed in fear as the airbender was forced to turn tail and run. She pulled the stopper from her water skin, drawing the water out of it and into a long stream. She whipped it toward the beast, cutting some fur off with the force of it, but it continued its furious rampage, Aang's maneuvering far more enticing than her weak bending. Fear gripped her, flashes of worst-case outcomes spinning through her mind, and she raced after them. 

They cleared the trees, nearing the water's edge. Katara drew on it, attempting to pull enough water for another whip out to stymie the beast's advance, and a great wave obeyed her command. The water ascended, towering, its shadow cloaking them all like a dark stormcloud. It was eerily reminiscent of the waves during the typhoon just days before, and impacted with just as much force as she drew the water down onto the creature threatening Aang. 

The soaking wet platypus-bear sprinted off, and Katara was left staring, shocked, back at Aang. 

"Wow, Katara! Good one!"

"Did I… do that? No, you helped, right? I can't… I can't do anything like that!" Katara looked at her trembling hands. How had she done that?! Waterbending never came that easily to her, and the last time she'd summoned that kind of power was… when they found Aang in the iceberg, maybe? 

Slender, tattooed hands slid into hers, a comforting warmth, and squeezed. "Hey, are you okay?" Aang's voice was soft and gentle, carefully quiet. 

Katara nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Of course. I'm fine. Are you hurt?" Turning her concern to Aang, she took stock of his appearance. His clothes were still dripping wet, having been caught in the heavy wave, but he seemed unhurt. 

"Yep! All thanks to you! You did great!" His hands slid from hers, reassured that she was okay, and summoned a great gust to force his clothing dry. 

"That was freaky, Katara." Sokka accused, pointing a finger at her. He spun that finger around at the man they'd rescued, stepping gingerly around the now-numerous muddy puddles. "And you! You're lucky we were here! What's wrong with you?!" 

"Like I said," The man shook his head, chuckling, "Aunt Wu predicted I'd have a safe journey. I was never in any danger. Thank you, though."

"Aunt Wu? Who's that?" Aang blinked up at him. 

"The fortune-teller from my village!" He explained enthusiastically. "It's awful nice knowing your future, don't you think?"

Katara understood the sentiment. With how much everything had changed, and kept changing, all so suddenly? To know what was coming, to be able to prepare for it? That sounded like a dream come true. She desperately hoped the others would agree to getting their fortunes told, even a small or vague prediction would be so nice. 

"'Knowing your future'? But the fortune-teller was wrong! You didn't have a safe journey at all! That platypus-bear could have killed you, almost did before we showed up!" Sokka argued, irate at the man's poor logic. 

Katara rolled her eyes. He was so predictable, no fortune-teller needed. 

"It didn't, though, did it? Have a good day, safe travels!" The man wished, bowing as he left. Abruptly, he pulled short. "Oh, one more thing! Aunt Wu said, should I meet any travelers, I should give them this." The man bowed, handing a package to Aang, and continued on his way. 

"What is it?" Katara asked curiously. The shape gave away nothing. 

Aang wasted no time in tearing through the wrappings, revealing a brilliant orange parasol within. Almost instantly, the skies opened up, a deluge of rain pelting them. Aang was spared the brunt of it, already holding an open parasol, and Katara bent the rain above her to keep her hair dry. 

"Wow… Seems like that fortune-teller is  _ really  _ accurate!" Katara marvelled, joining Aang under the orange fabric protecting him from the rain. "We should go into town, have her tell our fortunes! It'll be fun!" 

"No, absolutely not." Sokka crossed his arms. "Fortune telling is bogus."

"Well, we need to get out of the rain, anyway…" Aang considered, tapping his chin. He glanced at Katara out of the corner of his eye at her, sharing a conspiratorial grin. 

"You're right! It'd be a shame if we stayed out in the rain like this and got sick again, especially since Zuko's not here to take care of Sokka." She teased. 

Sokka glared, the effect ruined by the heavy rain soaking him to the bone, but couldn't come up with a witty reply. "Yeah, yeah, let's go, then. You two can waste all the time you want instead of using the opportunity to put as much distance between him and us as we can." 

"Oh, shush, Sokka. A quick visit won't hurt." 

\---

The village was further than expected, the rain not letting up until Sokka 'predicted' it would continue. Really, he should know by now the spirits loved to mess with those who didn't respect them. 

Aang generously air-blasted them dry, forcing her and Sokka to enter the town while taming their hair. They were greeted just past the gate by a man who was already expecting them, Aunt Wu having foretold their arrival. 

Katara was giddy with excitement. She had a dozen questions buzzing in her head she wanted to ask. Would she find a master at the North Pole? Would they continue to evade the Fire Nation successfully? Was Aang  _ really  _ her soulmate, and what would their future look like, anyway? Even knowing the weather forecast for the next few days would go a long way, allowing them to make travel plans accordingly. 

They were led into Aunt Wu's residence and made to wait in the comfortable lobby area. It was so hard to sit still, knowing the super-accurate fortune-teller would be showing up soon. 

A young assistant came by, offering snacks and eyeing Aang oddly. The airbender didn't seem to notice. Sokka jumped at the chance for free food, but was brushed aside.

"You know, Aunt Wu can do more than just fortune-telling." The girl mentioned pointedly, leaning too close to Aang to be strictly professional. "She can also show you your soulmate! Did you know that every person has somebody who's absolutely  _ perfect  _ for them, someone that compliments their very soul?" 

"We're very familiar with the concept, believe me." Sokka grumbled. 

"Oh, really?" The girl tilted her head at him, confused by his confrontational tone. "Well, she can show you who that person is! Aren't you curious?" 

"No." 

"Sokka, don't be a jerk. She's just offering a service." Katara snapped at him. She turned a smile to the assistant. "You'll have to forgive my brother. You see, he's already met his soulmate, but their relationship is… contentious." She explained. 

"Contentious? Are you sure she's your real soulmate? Soulmates are supposed to bring you joy and happiness and you just  _ work  _ together super well and it's totally romantic!" The girl had hearts in her eyes by the time she finished. 

The three shared meaningful glances with one another. Their experience with soulmates up to this point had been so far outside of what the stories said they should be, but when had real life ever been as romantic as a story? 

"Thank you for telling us about the soulmate readings, Meng." Katara desperately wanted to change the subject, watching Sokka's expression go ever darker. 

"Of course! I think  _ someone  _ might see something  _ very interesting  _ if he asks for one!" She gave very obvious, pointed looks Aang's way, grinning. Katara had to wonder what she saw that made her so certain Aang was the one. 

A shoji door slid open in the wall, revealing an ostentatiously-dressed, older woman. She smiled warmly at the three of them. 

"You three are here mighty late. Come, now, who's first? We don't want this to take all night." She said, amusement in her eyes. 

Katara spared a glance at the boys, gauging their reactions, and feeling no small amount of relief that neither seemed particularly interested in what Aunt Wu had to say. 

"I guess that's me." Katara smiled, standing carefully so as not to seem too eager.

Meng reentered the room as they left it, delivering Sokka's snacks to him and giving Aang another glance-over. 

Aunt Wu slid the shoji shut behind them, guiding Katara by the small of her back into the room.

"Sit, sit, be comfortable." The woman took her own seat on one of the heavily-embroidered pillows, indicating the other to her guest. "Now, what kind of reading would you like? I'm certain Meng already suggested the soulmate reading to you all, she's been very passionate about them since I did hers." 

Katara laughed. That was an understatement. "Um, I think I already know who it is. I might like to be more sure, though?" 

"Oh?" Aunt Wu seemed intrigued. "And why are you so uncertain?"

Katara smoothed her dress down, getting her thoughts in order. "Well… It's a long story, if that's okay?" 

Aunt Wu nodded. Katara took a deep breath. 

She told her of the ritual, of the importance their tribe put on the bond between soulmates. She told her of the journey her brother had been on, how unusual it was, and of her own. She told her how they later found Aang in the iceberg, by following the barely-remembered route Appa had led her down. 

"It was weird, though, since the spirit that guided me wasn't really a spirit, and I didn't actually get to see Aang, since he was in the iceberg."

Aunt Wu was staring, slack-jawed. "Wow. That's… a lot to take in. Okay." She held a hand to her head, processing the incredible tale she'd been told. "I see why you have such uncertainty, now."

Katara nodded, twisting her fingers impatiently. 

"I can do a soulmate reading for you, though it won't be so… vivid as your tribe's spirit journeys. You said your brother met and spoke with this boy? And that that was normal? It was just the… spontaneity of it that was strange?" 

"Yes. Please, Aunt Wu, even if it's something vague. I need to know for sure." 

"Very well." The fortune-teller gathered an herb-filled vessel from nearby and held it over the flames in the pit between them. Sickly green smoke began to rise from it, and Aunt Wu wafted it towards herself, breathing deeply of the fumes. "Show us, spirits, the bond of the soul!" She rasped out, voice harsh and low with the smoke of the herbs. 

The fire flickered, shifting shapes and colors before settling into the familiar outline of a bald boy, clothed in oranges and reds. As she watched, the figure changed, growing tall, posture proud, but still recognizable. Katara gasped. 

"I see the boy he is now, the man he will become. You already know, dear, who it is you seek." 

"Yes… thank you, Aunt Wu." Katara felt the words escape her in a breathless near-whisper. As it turned out, it was one thing to suspect, and another thing entirely to have confirmation. "What does that mean, though? For us?"

"Well, that's entirely up to you. All I can tell you is the usual, the tales we've all heard. Though, I'm sure the tales where you're from are a bit different." She smiled to herself before continuing. "Your spirits will resonate with one another, making you stronger, better at anticipating each others' thoughts and moods. None of that necessarily means you need to launch into a romantic relationship right away. From what you tell me, your brother found a close friend in his soulmate, rather than a romantic pair. Nothing is set in stone, dear, and your fate is what you make of it." 

Katara sighed. It was one thing to hear from others, but to hear even a fortune-teller say 'nothing is set in stone'? Was the world really so unpredictable? Even something like soulmates, which had seemed so incredible and immutable when she was little, were up to debate. 

She had loved the idea of soulmates for so long, loved that there was a destiny out there waiting for her, that the spirits had chosen someone special just for her,  _ made _ for her. 

Now, confronted with a real person she needed to work out real problems with, the romance of it seemed to die. 

"Thank you. You've given me a lot to think about." 

\---

Aang was entirely too pleased with himself after having Aunt Wu read his fortune. He'd gone to eavesdrop on Katara's fortune, and had barely made it back on time before they returned, failing utterly at playing it cool. As expected, the fortune-teller told him exactly what he wanted to hear. Katara's his soulmate, they're gonna have a zillion babies together, and there'd be sunshine every day forever. 

At least, that's what Sokka assumed was putting an extra-high spring into the Avatar's step. 

"Come on, you." Aunt Wu ordered, snapping at him, pretenses gone at the late hour. 

"What? I thought you said I was going to bring myself a bunch of misfortune and unhappiness and that you didn't even need to read my fortune." 

"I did, but perhaps it's not your questions I want to answer, but my own." 

Sokka frowned, but followed her anyway. All trace of her manufactured personality was gone, leaving an impatient woman kept awake too long by chatty children. 

She snapped her fingers. "Sit." 

He did. 

"You know, I usually don't do readings for people like you. The contempt you have for the art of divination is an insult. I've spent my entire life learning various channels and mediums, and it's with great pride that I can say the spirits give me very clear signs now."

"Oh, great." Sokka rolled his eyes. "It's not hocus pocus, it's mumbo jumbo. That  _ really  _ changes things." He moved to stand. "Listen, it's been great, but I'm gonna go join my sister and Aang. They've gotta be getting tired by now-"

Aunt Wu snapped, pointing back at the pillow. "Sit." She repeated, with more venom this time. 

Again he obeyed. She ran a palm along her carefully-styled hair, heaving a heavy sigh. 

"Your sister claims your first encounter with the spirits was when you were eight years old?" 

"Yeah, some magic deer." 

"Magic deer." Aunt Wu repeated. She seemed unimpressed. "Many people spend their entire lives working towards spiritual enlightenment to have the kind of encounters you did as a child. Do you understand that?" 

He didn't. "Why would they want to?" He replied, flatly, returning her unimpressed expression. 

"The spirits have power and knowledge far beyond our limited human capability! With their cooperation, we humans can know and do and  _ be  _ so much more than we are!" 

"My sister can do stuff I've never seen another human do before, but you don't see me worshipping  _ her. _ "

"You- ugh, really, you are the  _ least  _ spiritual person I have  _ ever  _ had the displeasure of speaking with."

"So why am I still here?!" Sokka threw his hands up, falling backwards onto the floor.

"Because there's something special about you, and I would very much like to know what it is. Now, I'd like to do a reading for you, just to see what happens. Can you sit still and shut up long enough for that?"

In response to her no-nonsense tone, Sokka sat back up on his cushion. He sighed. "Okay." 

"So generous of you." She sneered. "Alright, any requests?"

"Oh, you're gonna let me choose? Not just gonna lay a bunch of vague predictions that sound nice on me and send me on my way?" 

The glare she sent him was withering.

"Well, um, I guess… I don't need to ask about soulmates, obviously, and anything I could ask about the war or our quest with Aang would be too important for me to trust your word with… I'm not sure."

"How about this, then. Instead of asking  _ who  _ your soulmate is, why don't you ask  _ why  _ the spirits chose him for you?" She suggested. 

Sokka's eyes widened. "Can you do that? I thought your soulmate predictions were really vague?"

She huffed a short laugh. "Not normally, no. I get the feeling things will be sharper with you, somehow." 

"Oh, right, because of the… okay. I guess that, then." 

Aunt Wu nodded, lifting the vessel of herbs. She wafted the fumes, and spoke the words, summoning the distinct shape of Zuko into the flames. 

The way the fire flickered around the edges, forming the reds and blacks of his armor, was haunting but gorgeous. This was how the armor was intended to look, wasn't it, wreathed in flames like a phantom phoenix. 

"Well, there's your boy. Now…"

"Why do you ask for this vision, boy?" An approximation of Zuko's voice rasped out of the crackling flames. "Has the Jin Lu been neglecting his duties?"

Sokka shrugged. "Nah. The old bag's just testing me or something." 

"Is that so? And how does she find the results?" The specter of sparks inquired, turning its indistinct, flickering face towards Aunt Wu. 

"Oh, my!" She held a hand to her mouth, hiding the way her jaw fell in shock. "I've never seen anything like this before! Tell me, are you the spirit of fortune? Suan Ming?" 

"The very same." The voice confirmed. 

"This is truly something special, then. Thank you for your guidance. I am ever in your debt." Aunt Wu dipped into a deep bow, pressing her forehead to the mat before the fire pit. 

The flickering shape of Zuko in the fire dipped its head in acknowledgement. "You have been good to me, as well."

"Hey, spirit. Uh, Suan Ming, she said?" 

The specter turned back to Sokka, listening patiently.

"She was gonna ask you- why is Zuko my destined soulmate? Who decided that?"

The flames morphed shapes and colors again, pausing briefly in the shape of the eight-legged deer spirit, shining a brilliant gold, before shifting again into the shape of a man. The flames burned a hot blue, indicating the blue garments of the Water Tribe, and the spirit spoke with an approximation of his father's voice. 

"Patience. Compassion. Understanding." It said, the fire crackling and popping emphatically on every word. "These lessons you have learned, he needs them as well. Without them, the world will not heal." 

The flames then dissipated, burning into low embers. 

"The spirit… actually spoke directly to you…" Aunt Wu finally sat back up, resting on her heels. "Even the Avatar didn't get that kind of special treatment." 

Sokka groaned. "What can I say, I'm one-of-a-kind."

\---

The following day, well-rested from a good night's sleep in a real bed, Katara rushed back to Aunt Wu's doors. Sokka had been vague about what she had talked to him about, but told her she communed directly with the spirits to achieve her frightening accuracy. 

Katara, stars in her eyes, said she wanted all the wisdom they could offer her. 

Sokka watched her run out the door with barely-concealed contempt. "What's got her so excited?" 

"It's a rare chance to know the future! You don't think that's exciting?" Aang's voice was muffled through his shirt, not pausing to speak while getting dressed for the day. 

"If it's a future the spirits chose for me, I think I'd rather not." Sokka shoved his boots on roughly, channeling his frustration into the motion.  _ He  _ was expected to be the patient and understanding one? If the spirits wanted patience and understanding for Zuko, they could have picked a million more qualified people for the job. Like Katara, for instance. Not for the first time, Sokka got the impression 'the spirits' were just making this up as they went along. 

"Hey, Sokka? You've got lots of experience with this whole soulmate thing, yeah?" Aang kicked his feet off the side of the bed, looking pointedly away. 

"You're really gonna ask me for relationship advice for getting with my  _ sister? _ " 

Aang shrugged. 

"Besides, I really don't think me and Zuko are the soul bond you want to emulate. You and Katara are already  _ leagues  _ ahead of us. Not trying to kill each other, for starters." 

"Well, still! I've never had any kind of relationship before! I don't know where to start!" 

Sokka met Aang's pleading face with a flat look. 

"Okay. Fine. I'll impart my endless wisdom on you, then."

"Thanks, Sokka!" 

\--- 

Touring the town was basically torture. Everywhere they looked, people were making day-to-day decisions based on Aunt Wu's mumbo jumbo predictions. A man wore red shoes because 'his soulmate would recognize him by them'. A man refused to bathe because of some imminent disaster related to water. Even Katara, who usually had a decent head on her shoulders, was buying fruit she hated for breakfast on the batty old woman's orders. 

"Ugh, how can all of you people be so willing to just let the spirits tell you how to live your life! Make your own choices!" Sokka complained to Aang, but the boy was suddenly no longer there. Swiveling around, he saw him approaching Katara, failing miserably at looking cool and aloof. The flirting was doomed to fail horribly.

Well, what did Sokka know? It had worked on Suki, sure, but that was entirely on accident. He'd been giving her mixed signals due to his confusion about Zuko, and not in order to play 'hard-to-get', but it had had the same effect. 

Katara, though, was more confused than seduced by Aang's awkward attempts at reproducing the technique, brushing past him to join the crowd gathering at the village center. 

"What's going on?" Sokka asked a passerby he'd given up on arguing with.

"Aunt Wu is about to do her cloud reading! She'll tell us about the major events coming up this year, including whether the volcano will erupt!" The man explained cheerily. 

Great. 

\---

Following Aunt Wu's proclamation that the volcano would remain dormant, Aang dragged Sokka up the side of the mountain. 

"There's a super-rare flower that grows  _ inside  _ the volcano! Isn't that cool?!" Aang leapt up the jutting rocks with short pulses of air, leaving Sokka to struggle behind him. "And, since the volcano's not gonna blow up, it'll be safe to pick them!" 

"Not you, too! I thought you were on my side!" Sokka groaned.

"I dunno, Sokka, I'm on the side of the evidence! And it really seems like she knows what she's talking about!" 

Sokka grumbled his way up the rocky incline, cursing the airbender and his flighty nature.

Ha, flighty. That was a good one, he'd need to remember to say it out loud sometime. 

Aang froze at the lip of the volcano, the air before him shimmering with heat. 

"Sokka… we need to warn the village." 

Below the rocky ring enveloping the volcano, lava bubbled and popped, boiling red and angry. It seemed it had no intention of remaining dormant, after all, despite the fortune-teller's bold assurances otherwise. 

Sokka's panic greatly overshadowed his vindication. 

\---

It was a massive effort, joining together work from benders and nonbenders alike to stave off the destruction of the lava on the village below. 

With no body of water handy nearby, Katara was forced to use barrels of drinking water to combat the fires catching at several buildings near the edge of the town while Aang put himself between the onslaught of lava and the homes of the citizens. 

Despite the depth of the earthen trenches the citizens had managed, the lava flowed too quickly and thickly to be contained. Aang took a deep breath, centering himself.

Great gusts of wind spread out from him, a veritable hurricane billowing into the volcanic path. 

With this terrifying yet impressive display of power, he cooled the splashing lava in an instant. She recalled the surge of power she'd summoned just the day before, when Aang had been in danger. 

Was that really the power of the soul bond? Or was this simply the level of power expected of the Avatar? Despite everything, all of her questions, all of the fortune-teller's words, she was still so uncertain about so many things.

Somehow, Aunt Wu had been both right  _ and  _ wrong. Had they not been here, the village would surely have been lost. On the other hand, they  _ had  _ been here, right when they were meant to be. 

Was that the power of fate? The will of the spirits? Had they reshaped the village's fate, or was this what was meant to be all along? 

Katara sighed, feeling a headache coming on. 

\---

They packed to leave immediately after, knowing their actions had likely attracted far too much attention. If anything said 'the Avatar's been here', it would be the wall of volcanic rock now defending the village's northern edge. 

If, as they gathered their belongings, she saw Sokka slipping a black-and-white bloom between sheets of parchment, pressing the petals carefully flat, she didn't say anything aloud. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case anyones curious, meng's soulmate is jingbo, one of aangs air acolytes from the comics! she saw a bald boy in air nomad clothes in the fires, so she obviously thinks its aang at first  
> i wanted a reason to keep her in there, still infatuated with aang despite the au, so theres the answer  
> it will Not come up in the fic at all so im solving the mystery here and now lmao


	11. Bato of the Water Tribe

It had been another long day's travel, following the coast, and Appa was flying low by the time Aang found a good place to stop. The clearing was large enough that the bison could safely and comfortably land, and the trees thick enough to provide them decent cover. 

"Do you think Zuko's following us again, yet?" Aang asked, leaping from Appa's saddle, landing softly in the grass below. 

Sokka shrugged. "It's been a couple days now. We'll have to wait and see. Better to be safe, though." 

"Aang, will you go find some firewood for us? I'll get camp set up in the meantime." Katara called. Aang eagerly agreed. 

"Sure thing!" He sped off, diving into the trees to rifle through the underbrush for good wood. 

"Don't forget the kindling! I'm not letting you use my jerky again!" Sokka added. 

Most of the fallen wood was still damp or green after the recent storms, and Aang found himself searching low for promising areas. Buried in piles of other branches, he was able to scrounge up a few good bits.

Something glinted nearby as he dug through the foliage, and he hopped over the pile to investigate, the gust billowing behind him rustling the fallen leaves. 

"Hey, look! Is this made out of whale tooth?" He lifted the spear tip, waving it over his head, task forgotten. 

"Let me see!" Sokka called, abandoning Katara to finish setting up her ring of rocks by herself to come look. 

Aang handed over the blade, allowing the warrior to look it over more carefully. 

"Yeah, that's definitely whale tooth. This is a Water Tribe weapon! Look around, maybe we can find something else!" 

Their shouting attracted Katara, who left Appa and Momo to watch the camp and come see what the fuss was about. "Did you lose something?" She asked, looking between them. 

Sokka lifted the weapon, not looking at her as he pushed aside underbrush to see beyond it. "No, we found something. Water Tribe warriors were near here."

"What?!"

The three, following Sokka's lead, followed a trail of battle damage out to the beach, Sokka's extensive tracking experience coming in useful. 

The trail led to an intact Water Tribe vessel, grounded just out of reach of the high tide, and the siblings stared at it in wonder. 

"This is from Dad's fleet!" Sokka sounded overjoyed. "Dad's been here!" 

Katara met his grin with a teary smile of her own, and Aang couldn't help the answering smile on his own face, sharing in his friends' excitement. 

"I wonder if this means someone's still around…" Katara murmured, gazing up at the vessel's bright blue sails. 

"Why don't we move camp down here? Then, if anyone  _ is  _ still around, you guys can be here to see them!" Aang suggested brightly. "Oh, wait… it's probably too open here, right, Sokka?" Aang's shoulders drooped, glancing over at the warrior tentatively. 

"It'll be fine for one night. I think it's worth the risk." 

The smile returned to Aang's face. "Great! Let's go get Appa!"

\---

"Uncle." Zuko called, opening the door of the older man's room. "I want you to help me contact the spirits."

Uncle Iroh placed his tea cup gently on the table, sighing before turning his gaze up to his nephew. "What's this about, all of a sudden?" 

Zuko sat on the pillow across from him, tucking his feet beneath him. "Now that we've lost the Avatar's trail, we need a new way to pick it back up again. We cannot afford to ignore any tools at our disposal to do so."

Uncle hummed, giving him an appraising look and sipping at his tea slowly. "You say this as though it were out of your control, and not due to the choices you have made. Do you regret your recent actions, regret making the promise you did with the Water Tribe boy?" 

Zuko's jaw tightened, unable to meet his Uncle's gaze. "I should not have allowed my weakness to cloud my judgement. The Avatar is my father's first priority, and should have been mine, as well."

"Hmm. Then you're saying you should have kept him prisoner? Or that you should have left him to die?" Uncle clarified.

"No!" Zuko felt a creeping panic at either option, twisting in his gut. 

"Or are you simply saying that you should have betrayed him, using his trust in you to achieve your goals?"

"No! Yes!" Zuko rubbed his hand down his face, eyebrows drawn. "I don't know!"

Uncle sighed heavily. "It is this turmoil and doubt that makes me hesitate to assist you in this endeavor, you know."

Zuko slammed a fist down on the table. "By refusing to help me track the Avatar, you're betraying the crown!" 

"No, Prince Zuko, you misunderstand me. In order to contact the spirits, your own spirit must be calm. Here, have some tea, soothe yourself." Uncle poured him a cup from the pot, pushing it near him. "I ask you to settle these questions not to convince you away from your task, but to make it so what you ask of me is possible. Now, I will ask again- Why do you want to contact the spirits?" 

Zuko sipped his tea, allowing it to warm his fingers, and took the time to compose his racing thoughts. 

Uncle waited patiently, refilling his cup as it ran empty, and allowed him to take the time he needed. 

Finally Zuko set down the cup, taking a deep breath, the candles in the room flaring with his exhale. "When he was here, sick, he told me something. Since the- since I was banished, I've only seen him once. He visited me in my dreams while I was recovering from-" Zuko waved a hand at his face, "When I was recovering. I thought he was simply choosing not to see me, which he had done before. I- I insulted him badly, once, and he refused to come for months on end." 

Zuko's fingers gripped his teacup more firmly, the last of the tea inside coming to a boil. Uncle did not react, watching him calmly.

"But, while he was sick, I came to check on him, and he told me the spirit had never come to him, that he thought I'd- that he thought I'd died." Zuko let out a shaky, rushed breath, pushing back the flood of emotion at the memory. Sokka had been so close, inches away, holding his face in a way he hadn't allowed anyone to since his injury, and yet he'd been too cowardly to do what he'd yearned to, to close that last small distance and finally feel his lips against his own. 

"It got me thinking…" He began again, hands beginning to shake despite his efforts, "What if the spirit stopped visiting him because… because we were no longer… compatible. If I'd changed too much to still be… If my failure had been too great to- to deserve him."

"Zuko. Nephew." Uncle pulled one of his hands away from the teacup, squeezing it in his own. It wasn't until the first tear dripped onto their entwined hands that he realized he'd begun crying. "The spirits' plan is not so short-sighted that something like this could alter it in such a way. If they believed the two of you needed one another, if they knew your souls were two halves of the same whole, even something like this could not destroy that plan. Do you understand?" 

Zuko breathed deeply, ashamed of his vulnerability. He recalled his father's disgusted tone, telling him to 'rise to his station', to 'act like a Prince', and used his free hand to wipe the tears away. "Yes, Uncle."

"I will do what you have asked, but know that contacting a spirit is no trifling thing. Should this fail, know that it is not your own shortcomings that prevent it. I need you to give me your word before we begin."

Zuko nodded, returning his breath to a steady rhythm, the last of the tears subsiding. Focus on the mission. The Avatar was a slippery opponent, and self-doubt was only a weakness. 

"You have my word. How do we begin?"

\---

Sokka found it difficult to sleep, under the shadow of one of the ships he'd had to watch sail away from the village, leaving him to protect his people alone. 

His father had assured him that he was being left behind to defend the village, that he was simply too young to come along. 

The next-youngest warrior was four months older than him. They'd needed all the extra hands they could get, after how their numbers had been dwindled.

It was difficult, had been constantly difficult ever since, to convince himself that his father was telling the truth. The quiet, mean voice in the back of his mind always whispered  _ they don't trust you _ and  _ they know you're destined to betray them.  _ The voice reminded him of his father's face, when the topic of soulmates had been brought up, expression pinched and eyes darting to Sokka, always gauging his reactions. 

Sokka always studiously schooled his expression into something neutral, but his father never forgot. He'd already made his mistake, telling his mother about the boy with the yellow eyes in the red bedroom, and none of the other warriors ever trusted him again. 

A crunching in the sand behind him startled him from his thoughts, and his boomerang was in his grip before he'd fully grasped the situation. 

"Who's there?" He called, both to alert the potential threat and to awaken the others.

"Sokka?" Two voices called at once. One was Katara, slowly rubbing the sleep from her eyes. 

The other was their father's best friend and right hand.

"Bato?!" Sokka replied in disbelief.

"Who?" Aang yawned. 

"Bato!" Katara called, dragging herself out of her sleeping bag. 

"Sokka! Katara!" Bato spread his arms wide, welcoming the siblings into a tight hug. They were delicate around his bandages, but he took no such care himself, squeezing them like he wasn't quite sure they were real. "It's so good to see you two! You've grown so much!" 

Sokka grinned up at the tall man. It was hard to tell, since he still barely came up to his chest, but he'd definitely gained several inches in the last two years. 

"Hi, I'm Aang!" The monk's chipper voice called from behind them. 

"Where's Dad?" Sokka asked eagerly. 

"Is he here?" Katara continued. 

"No." Bato's shoulders fell and he distanced himself from the siblings to look them both in the eyes. "He and the other warriors should be in the Eastern Earth Kingdom by now. Come, this is no place for a reunion. I'll tell you everything at the abbey." 

Bato placed a hand on each of their shoulders, guiding them to their destination. After a few steps, he paused, seeing the airbender hesitating behind them. 

"Are you coming?" He asked, taking the hand off of Sokka's shoulder to wave the boy over. 

A simulacrum of his usual bright smile glossed over the strangely lost expression he'd been sporting. Aang kicked sand into the flickering flames, tossing their bedrolls onto the saddle haphazardly and motioning for Appa to follow. 

\---

Uncle requested Zuko's assistance in pushing the low table over to the wall, leaving room to pull the mattress to the center of the floor. Satisfied with the new setup, he began to place tall candles at regular intervals around the bedding, gesturing to Zuko to lie down. 

Zuko stepped carefully over and around the candles and settled onto the bed. Completing his task, Uncle lit the candles in a wave, spreading out from himself and curling around the foot of the bed. 

"Now, you must synchronize your breathing with mine. We will use the candles to help us get the timing right. Feel the flames rise and fall with my breath." 

Zuko fell into the slow and steady pattern his Uncle set for them, allowing himself to relax. 

"You will continue to breath and concentrate, visualizing the spirit you wish to speak with, while I reach out to it." 

Zuko nodded, not interrupting his breaths. Uncle resumed the rhythm, the candles obeying him, and Zuko altered his pace to match. 

Long minutes passed, Zuko trying to put together an idea of the spirit's appearance from Sokka's and Uncle's descriptions, keeping all other thoughts pushed away. His many long hours of practice with meditation made the task much easier, but his doubts still tried very hard to push through. 

Uncle's voice began to mutter a low chant, too quiet to make out the words. Zuko allowed himself to get lost in it, the droning of his voice drowning out his own disquiet. 

The image behind his eyelids grew slowly clearer, details coming into focus. A sea of grass waved before him, tall trees stretched to the sky, heavy boulders hovering between their boughs. 

He blinked and the scenery remained, but his imagined depiction of the Jin Lu disappeared. 

"What? Where did it go?" He spun on his heel, seeing more of the odd landscape, but no spirits. "Hey! Come to me! You're supposed to guide us  _ both,  _ aren't you?! So why won't you come to me?!" 

His voice echoed unnaturally, as though the air was repeating it back to him, rather than taking it away into the distance. He paused, the eerie stillness of the place shaking him to the core. 

"Answer me!" He continued to shout. "Jin Lu!" 

His voice echoed and faded, as before. 

Frustrated, he punched the air before him, reaching for fire he was sure would not heed him.

Surprisingly, he felt his inner fire react, travelling down to the tips of his fingers, before he was abruptly jostled.

"Prince Zuko, you must not attempt to firebend. You are not properly in the spirit world right now, just seeing an image of it. You will still bend in this state, and I do not wish to see my room set ablaze."

Zuko blinked, the landscape fading away, back into the dark walls and red tapestries of Uncle's chamber. Smoke drifted from his clenched fist.

"I take it you were unsuccessful?" Uncle asked, unnecessarily. 

"Yes. We will have to think of something else."

Suddenly, unexpectedly, the entire ship jolted, sending the lit candles scattering. Together, the two firebenders worked to snuff them all quickly, before anything caught. 

"What the hell was that?!" Zuko snarled.

\---

After a cozy dinner, wherein Sokka and Katara recounted fond memories with Bato over stewed sea prunes, finally feeling at home again after weeks of non-stop travel, Sokka took Bato aside, shooting a glance to where Aang and Katara had rolled out their bedrolls. 

"Bato, can I talk somewhere… private with you?"

The older warrior seemed surprised, but led Sokka outside without question. The door slid shut, and he paced off, leading the way to the stables. 

"There shouldn't be anyone wandering around here at this hour. We should be safe from listening ears. What did you want to talk about?" 

"It's about Dad… why did he  _ really  _ leave me behind?" Sokka watched Bato's eyes carefully, seeing the shock that passed through them momentarily at the question. 

"Sokka… you were too young at the time, you know that. It was too risky. We were headed to an active war zone."

"Was that really the only reason?" 

"Sokka, I don't understand-"

"Just answer me. Honestly." Sokka snapped, before feeling guilty and shrinking in on himself. "Please."

"Is that not reason enough? What's all this about?" 

Sokka couldn't meet his gaze. "Was it  _ risky  _ because of my age, or was it  _ risky _ because… you didn't think you could trust me?" He forced himself to meet Bato's searching eyes now, looking for any tells. "Did Dad tell you?"

"Did he tell me about what?" 

Sokka held steady, boring into Bato's eyes until the man relented. 

"...Yes. He did. He told all of us." 

Sokka's heart dropped into his stomach. Of course. He'd always suspected, but thought he'd just been paranoid… no, everyone in the village  _ did  _ know. 

"Katara made such a fuss, you remember how she was… and there are no secrets in the village. He told us shortly after it happened." 

Bato placed a firm hand on Sokka's shoulder, grounding him. 

"Listen, Sokka, the Fire Nation boy had nothing to do with his decision. You're Water Tribe, through and through. None of us doubted that your loyalty was to the tribe, and to the tribe only. Do you understand?" 

Sokka took a deep breath, wanting desperately to trust his words, but Bato's voice saying 'there are no secrets in the village' echoed in his mind. 

Bato sighed. "You know, when I was your age, I went through something similar." 

Sokka, shocked, scrambled to grasp his meaning. "You-"

"When I went through the guidance ritual, the spirit that came to me led me across the world. From the way your mother told it, it sounds to me like it may have been the same spirit you saw. The Jin Lu, the golden deer." 

Sokka nodded. What was he getting at? 

"The journey took me clear across the globe, to the Northern Water Tribe. The boy I met there, in the dreams, he could light up a room with his smile. He had a bright sense of humor, a quick wit… your father's always reminded me of him."

Sokka frowned. "That's not the same thing at all! They're our sister tribe, not the enemy!" 

"No, you're right, it's not entirely the same. However, you understand how important the spirit bonds are to our people. To go against the spirits' wishes and choose another path is almost tantamount to sacrilege." 

Sokka rolled his eyes. 

"I know you never put much stock in their power, yourself, but as a community, it's important to us. Our sister tribe abandoned us long ago, sequestering themselves away at the other end of the world. They've left us to our misfortune. Many of the tribe consider them to be as much an enemy as anyone else, for refusing to aid us when we needed them most. I had to choose between abandoning my people to travel across the world to uphold my duties to the spirits, or to stay behind and uphold my duties to the tribe. I know, for me, it was never a choice at all." The hand on Sokka's shoulder squeezed, rubbing at the tension there. "I know, without a doubt, it was the same for you."

Those words… without even trying, Bato had found the words to cut Sokka the deepest, because he was wrong.

Choosing to uphold his duties to the tribe would have meant telling everyone when he found out Zuko was the prince, informing his father and the elders about what he'd learned of the Fire Nation from the other boy, telling them the day it happened that the new Fire Lord had been crowned. He should have been the perfect spy, a font of reliable information direct from the source, but instead…

Instead he'd chosen the Fire Prince over his own people, time and again. It had felt like more of a betrayal to abuse the boy's trust than to withhold information, than to give so much information about the tribe himself. 

"Thanks, Bato, but… I'm not so sure you  _ can  _ trust me." 

Even now, knowing the other boy wouldn't hesitate to betray  _ him _ ,  _ had  _ betrayed him several times over, still he hesitated. He'd had full access to Zuko's ship, the vessel he was still using to chase down the world's last hope, and hadn't so much as lifted a finger to sabotage it, hadn't even  _ considered…  _

"Sokka… I don't know what's eating at you, but you're being too hard on yourself. Come, let's get some rest."

"No, Bato, you don't get it. I'm- There's something you should know." 

"Tell me, Sokka. I'm all ears." 

He took a deep breath. It was a chance to redeem himself, to correct his past mistakes. 

"I know who he is. My soulmate. He's been chasing us down, and I'm sure he'll follow us here soon enough. That's why we're in such a hurry to leave. He could catch up to us any minute. Last time we ran into him, we reached a truce, but I don't know how long it'll last." Still, Sokka held back a flood of important details. He feared even this would be enough to turn Bato against him, that any more and he would be revealed as an enemy, himself, and couldn't say more. 

"That's troubling. Are your sister and the Avatar aware?" 

Sokka nodded. "Yes, I've told them everything." A lie, always lying. Even to his own flesh and blood. 

"Let's get back to the room. A good night's sleep won't hurt." 

Sokka made to argue, but allowed Bato to lead him back to the cozy room, lined with familiar pelts. 

Just one night. It couldn't hurt.

\---

The awful beast had torn apart the hull like it was nothing, and Zuko demanded compensation. 

The girl wasn't hard to track down, her mount being as recognizable as it was, especially with Uncle unusually  _ eager  _ to participate in the hunt. 

Zuko shuddered. Seeing the old man mooning over a woman was horrifying. 

The bar they found her in was full of people as rowdy and prone to property damage as she was, and Zuko didn't want to spend a minute more here than absolutely necessary. 

"I need to talk to you." He demanded, slamming a hand on the table, where her palm locked with a brawny man in a contest of strength. 

"Well, if it isn't my new friends. Angry Boy and Uncle Lazy." She purred. 

Uncle chuckled in a way that would haunt Zuko's nightmares. 

The girl easily slammed her opponent's hand to the table, raking in coin from those who underestimated her. 

"You trashed my ship. You have to pay me back." Zuko demanded. 

Her painted lips curled into a wicked smile, pulling the piling coin in front of her. "Oh, I wish I could help out, but I'm a little short on money." She turned to the gathered patrons, raising a fist. "Drinks on me!" 

The entire bar erupted into cheers. She lifted her cup to sip smugly. 

Zuko snatched her by the wrist. " _ Money  _ isn't what I had in mind."

She grimaced, pocketing a handful of coins before allowing herself to be tugged along. The barmaids swooped over to scoop up the rest, distributing drinks to the rowdy patrons. 

"What  _ did  _ you have in mind, then?" She snarled. 

"There's someone I need you to track down for me. Find them, and I'll consider your debt paid." 

She scoffed. "Not interested." 

"Plus, we'll pay your weight in gold!" Uncle interrupted. 

She looked him over. "Double it, and you've got a deal."

Uncle laughed that creepy laugh again. "You got it!" 

Satisfied, she leaned back on her beast. "So, who's the target? My shirshu needs their scent to find them. Any object they've held or worn for a long time will do." 

Zuko frowned. He didn't have anything of the Avatar's, despite their frequent encounters. Worse, he'd just given Katara's necklace back, so he didn't have her scent either. 

There was only one option left. 

"Come with us back to the ship. I'll find something you can use." 

The girl acquiesced, allowing them both to mount her beast alongside her. Seeing Uncle's eager anticipation, Zuko firmly planted himself in the center of the lineup. 

"Woah, there, Grumpy. Hands off." She warned. 

Zuko glanced back at Uncle, then at the girl again. "I'm not the one you should be worried about."

Uncle smiled pleasantly, as though he hadn't just been insulted. "What's your name, miss?"

"Don't even start. I don't have time to humor you." She snapped. 

"It is important to know who we will be working with, don't you agree?" He pressed. 

She glared. "You can call me Jun. I don't want to know either of your names. Client confidentiality and all that." 

"Fair enough, Jun."

Even the way Uncle said her  _ name  _ was too much. Was he this bad around Sokka? He hoped not, he'd never get over the shame if so. 

Jun just rolled her eyes, cracking her whip. The shirshu raced off, returning at break-neck speed to their vessel. 

It bounded across the boards of the dock with unbelievable agility for a creature without eyes, and leapt nimbly onto the deck of the ship, snuffing its long snout into the hole it had torn open earlier. 

Zuko slid down, marching off to his quarters, while Uncle stayed behind to chitchat. 

The crew seemed confused to see him back so soon, and with the beast that had destroyed the deck, but gave him the usual wide berth. 

He slammed open the hatch to his quarters, making a beeline for the armoire. 

There, lying at the bottom, haphazardly tossed in rather than hung with the rest of his wardrobe, was a certain set of layered robes. He hesitated, memories racing through his mind. 

He shoved them away. 

Anything for the mission. 

Jun laughed aloud, derisively, when he approached with the pyjamas. "What, am I tracking down a one-night-stand? Couldn't get the girl's name before she ran off on you? Ha, I don't blame her." 

"No." Zuko snapped. "Client confidentiality, right? You don't need to know, as long as you get paid." 

She shrugged. "Fair enough. You got me there. Hand them over, he needs to get a good sniff in." 

He reluctantly handed the garments over to the girl, and she held them for her shirshu to investigate. It snuffled and huffed, then turned its nose skyward. A few sniffs here and there, and then it shoved its long snout directly into Zuko's chest. 

"What's it doing?!" He demanded. 

"Relax. Seems like your scent is on these, too. He's gotta familiarize himself with both, so he tracks the right one." She chuckled to herself. "Seems like I hit the nail on the head with that one…" She murmured. 

Zuko glared. 

Finished, the shirshu bobbed its head around the ship, investigating the relatively fresh scent trails from Sokka wandering the halls, looking for the most recent one. It tensed, finding its direction, and pointed its snout towards the docks. 

"Good to go. Come on, let's ride."

\---

The next day, Bato had the three help him load his supplies into the boat. 

"As long as I have the extra hands," He'd chuckled, "I might as well get a head start!"

Loaded down with pelts and cooking supplies, the group made the short trek down to the beach, helping one another pass everything onto the deck. 

"This boat is sentimental to me, you know. It was built by my father." Bato explained. 

"Oh, is this the boat he took you ice-dodging in?" Sokka asked.

"Yep." Bato grinned proudly, running his hand along a deep groove in the hull. "And it's got the scar to prove it! How about you, Sokka? You must have some exciting stories from your first time ice-dodging."

It was a transparent yet ill-planned attempt. Despite his intentions, to remind Sokka of his place as a man of the tribe, it just reminded him of how much he'd missed out on. 

"Sokka never got to go." Katara reminded Bato in his stead. "Dad left before he was old enough." 

"Oh, I… I forgot. You were too young. I'm sorry." 

"What's ice-dodging?" Aang piped up from behind him. 

"It's a rite of passage. When you turn fourteen, your Dad takes you… you know what? Why don't I show you?" 

He directed them to pass the supplies up to the deck, helping them to stow everything in the hold. 

"Now, Sokka, you'll be in charge. Take the rudder and call the shots." 

Sokka obeyed, sitting by the mechanism, as Bato gave the others their positions. Aang seemed nervous, to the point of being defensive, but it was expected. The kid had likely never been on a Water Tribe vessel before, after all, let alone helped maneuver one.

Sokka took a deep breath, steadying himself. It was a big task, and he'd rarely handled anything bigger than a fishing canoe, the pirate ship having been a notable exception. 

Bato took a seat at the bow of the ship. "For this to be done right, I cannot help you. You pass or fail on your own."

The calmness with which Bato handed over control of this vessel, one dear to him, for Sokka to steer through dangerous rapids and around unforgiving rocks, spoke to the unshakeable confidence he had in the young warrior. 

Sokka took his faith to heart, feeling his own confidence bolstered. He could do this. 

Allowing himself to feel the rhythm of the vessel, flowing with the rhythm of the rushing water below, Sokka sent orders to the others, narrowly avoiding the obstacles in their path. He directed them through twists and turns, the boat rocking and swaying, and came out the other side unscathed. 

"Excellent work, Sokka! Let's turn back!" Bato cheered, seeing the rocks before them forming an impassable wall. 

"No, we can do this!" He argued.

"You've already proven yourself!" 

Sokka ignored his words, giving further orders. "Aang, fill that sail with as much wind as you can! Katara, bend all the water between us and the rocks that you can!" 

The two, working in tandem, summoned terrifying power, the boat practically taking to the air with their combined power, easily sailing over the rocky wall. 

All four cheered in together as the boat descended safely on the other side, the wave of water returning to its natural level. 

"That was incredible, Sokka! Bring us around, you've certainly all earned your marks today."

No matter what else he carried with him, weighing him down, today he'd led his friends through treacherous waters, quite literally, and earned the Mark of the Wise, earning his place in the tribe at the same time. 

\---

The shirshu finally caught up with its quarry near an abbey, but there was no sign of the Avatar with them.

"That's the girl? Yeesh, hun, you've got some  _ bad  _ taste." Jun clicked her tongue judgementally. 

" _ What?!"  _ Katara shrieked. "What the hell did you tell her?!" 

"I told you, there is no girl!" Zuko snapped, sliding off of the beast's back. "Where is the Avatar?" He demanded. 

"Aw, are we back on that again? And here I thought you might be here to see me!" Sokka held a hand to his chest in mock-offense, masking his very real frustration. 

Jun barked out a laugh. "Oh, now I see my mistake!" 

"You've missed him, Zuko. We split up. He's long gone by now." Sokka spat. 

"And why should I believe you?" Zuko snapped back, stepping forward into Sokka's space, looking down on the shorter boy.

Sokka rolled his eyes, not backing down at the shallow intimidation. "What, can't tell when I'm lying by now? I'm almost hurt." 

"Sokka…" Katara attempted to tug his sleeve discreetly, but discretion was never her strong suit. Zuko's eyes flicked to her before returning to Sokka's. 

"Just come quietly and you won't get hurt. All I want is the Avatar." 

"Wow, shocking. We've never heard that one before. Our answer's the same as always, Zuko. You're not getting him unless you go through us." 

Zuko sighed, taking a step back, and Sokka took the chance. He shoved Katara in the side, getting her moving before chasing after her himself. 

The memory of the stowaway, attempting to escape and collapsing to the deck, was brought sharply to the forefront of his mind. "Wait, no! The shirshu, it'll-" 

Too late to heed his warning, Sokka raced off, the long tongue of the beast easily reaching him. It stung Katara first, the girl sliding to the ground in a heap, and Zuko jumped in the way of the next strike. 

The poison jolted through him, seizing his muscles, and he fell heavily on top of Sokka, trapping him. 

"I tried to warn you…" He ground out, jaw frozen with the paralyzing poison. 

"Get off me!" Sokka snapped, struggling to push Zuko's dead weight away, laden with the heavy armor as he was. 

"Don't-" 

As expected, as soon as he was free, the shirshu's tongue lashed out, striking Sokka directly in the chest. 

"Ugh, did you really have to make more work for me, Grumpy? Hey, Lazy, drag him up here and let's get moving."

Uncle slid off of the beast, lifting Zuko bodily to the saddle. 

"We still need to find the Avatar! Can't your pet pick up his scent?" 

Jun rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine." She cracked her whip, getting her beast's attention. "Nyla! New scent!" She ordered. 

The beast began snuffling around, digging his nose into the siblings' packs. "Hey, quit it!" Sokka warned, without any bite, unable to do anything to stop the snout sniffing its way into his pack and knocking loose a scroll within. 

"Hm, seems like someone else held this for a long time. We'll follow it, maybe turn up something good, hmm?" Jun patted the saddle behind her, urging Uncle to join her. "Let's ride."

"Wait!" Zuko shouted, struggling to move, despite the poison still lurking in his veins. "You can't just leave them here!"

"Screw you!" Sokka growled, straining and prone. 

"Sokka!" Katara hissed. "Why would you argue  _ against  _ him bringing us back to where Aang is?!" 

"I'm tired of this! He can't keep attacking us and then pretending he feels all bad about it! You chased us down with a monster trained to take people out, and you  _ didn't  _ expect this to happen?! Like  _ hell  _ I'm gonna believe that!" 

Jun rolled her eyes. "Sounds like your boyfriend doesn't want anything to do with you." 

"Come now." Uncle coaxed, lifting Katara gently onto the saddle. "No matter how you may feel about my nephew, you must agree you need to return to your friend, yes?" 

Sokka kept his mouth shut, fuming. Uncle apologized to him under his breath, lining him up on the saddle as well. 

"Sit at the back, make sure no one falls off." 

She cracked the whip again, not waiting to see if her passengers were all secure, urging the beast to take off once more. 

\---

The trail led to the abbey, of course, and to Aang. The woman and her creature faced off against the airbender and Appa both, Uncle Iroh dragging the paralyzed passengers off to relative safety, out of the way of most of the fighting. He, himself, stayed out of it, keeping an eye on his nephew but not lending a hand to the bounty hunter. 

Zuko was quiet, stewing over the barbed words, and Sokka was of a mind to let him simmer. He'd been right, every word, and Zuko deserved to hear it. 

Katara, on his other side, seemed very focussed on her fingers, trying to wiggle them past the poison in their systems. 

"...You probably think I'm being a stubborn ass again." Zuko muttered, quiet enough that Sokka could pretend not to have heard him.

"You are." Sokka responded. 

"You know this isn't my decision." Zuko pressed. 

Sokka felt the familiar sting of frustration. "What I  _ know  _ is for a decision that's 'not yours', you sure seem happy to do anything and everything necessary to go through with it." 

"I have to be." Zuko insisted. "If I fail now, Zhao will get him. Would you rather that asshole get to torture him until he's barely alive, or for me to be the one to capture him?" 

"And what happens to him after? You turn him in to your father and then what? You think that guy's gonna let you be all soft on him?"

"I can try. I can do my best to-"

"What I would  _ rather  _ is that no one captures him. The world needs him, Zuko." 

"So what would you have me do, Sokka?" Zuko huffs. "Just give up?" 

"And why not?" Sokka asked. "Let us go. Do what we need to. Start a new life somewhere. You don't owe your dad anything. Not your loyalty, not the Avatar. Not after everything."

Zuko takes a deep breath. "Maybe, maybe not. But I do owe it to my people. I'm their Prince. I can't abandon them." 

Sokka couldn't understand, not really, the concept of leadership by birth. Leaders were chosen, lifted up by their merits, by the will of the people. Zuko had told him once, about the belief that the royal family was directly descended from the spirit of the sun, Agni, and that it was this that gave them the right to rule. 

When they were younger, and Sokka could see the good heart beating in Zuko's chest, he couldn't argue that the boy would be a good replacement for his father one day. Now, seeing it was the very sense of duty to his role that was corrupting him, Sokka wasn't so sure. 

"I guess not." He said, letting the conversation die once more. 

Beside him, Katara had remained studiously silent, letting him work through his issues with Zuko, and for that he appreciated her. He could see in her face that this would be another sibling heart-to-heart later, though, so he counted his blessings while he could. 

She had regained sufficient movement in her fingers to bend a small amount of water now. 

"Sokka… I have an idea." 

\---

As it turned out, she had a  _ brilliant  _ idea. She was able to move just enough of the perfumes to wobble the entire jar, knocking it to the ground. The sisters had gotten the idea immediately, helping push over several more, the scents mixing horribly. 

Aang bent the mixed perfumes around to thoroughly splash the bounty hunter's beast with conflicting scents, successfully confusing it to the point of panic. 

The sisters rushed by, holding smelling salts to their noses, counteracting the venom. After that, it was a quick getaway, their belongings already gathered into their packs, and they were in the sky once more. 

As the abbey grew ever smaller, Sokka watching over the side of the saddle for everything to erupt into flame (even tho he knew it wouldn't, he would never), Katara placed a hand on his elbow, squeezing it. "Sokka… I'm sorry." 

"What do you have to be sorry for?" 

"Nothing, just… it's rough, isn't it?" She asked gently. 

Sokka scoffed. "You can say that again…" 

"Do you want to talk about it?" She continued. 

Sokka shrugged. "Maybe later. Not now, okay?" 

"Okay. Just… let me know when you're ready. We're here for you, okay? Both me and Aang." 

"I'm really sorry." Aang added. "I want to make it up to you guys, for what I did. If you guys still want to see your dad, I can wait a little longer to get to the North Pole." 

"That's sweet of you, Aang, but…" Katara trailed off, glancing to Sokka uncertainly.

"We already decided we're sticking with you." Sokka finished. "We want to see Dad, but you need us more right now. We're going to the North Pole." 

Aang's bright smile was all the reassurance he needed that they'd made the right choice. 

It was tough, but the right thing was rarely without sacrifice. 


	12. The Deserter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *checks 'festival date' off of my fic tropes bingo board*

The light in Aang's eyes when he saw the festival poster was dangerous. 

"There are wanted posters of you plastered everywhere! People are going to recognize you!" Sokka argued. 

"I need to learn firebending at some point!" Aang reminded them. "At a firebending festival, I can watch some masters up close, maybe even find someone to teach me!" 

"Finally given up on Zuko miraculously changing his mind and teaching you?" Katara joked lightly, nudging him with her elbow. 

Aang waved her off. "Nope! But I do need a backup plan, since he's not coming around so easy." 

"You know, Aang, I could teach you a few things." Sokka offered, trying to sound casual. 

Katara scoffed. "You? Since when are you a firebender?" 

"Since never, that's not my point!" Sokka retorted, pointing a finger at his sister's face. She rolled her eyes. "When we were younger, I had Zuko show me some of his moves. He couldn't actually bend the fire, being the spirit world and all, but he still showed me a couple kata. I could do the same for you." 

"That's pretty cool!" Aang chirped. 

"But not all that helpful." Katara crossed her arms. "Bending isn't just about moving your body the right way, it's about feeling the element. The kata are just to help you guide the energy." 

Sokka huffed. "Yeah, yeah, gripe at the normal guy for not getting all the hocus pocus junk. I was just trying to help." 

"No, I think it's kinda cool! Maybe some other time?" Aang pat his shoulder, and it didn't seem as patronizing as it should have. "For now, I still think we should at least give the festival a shot!" 

"Aang makes a good point." Katara sighed. "We can't really afford to pass up the chance."

"Oh, no. You can't seriously be considering this."

"It'll be fine. We'll wear disguises, and at the first sign of trouble, we'll leave!" 

Sokka slapped a hand to his forehead. Katara always seemed to find her optimism when it would make Aang happy, didn't she. "Right, because we always manage to leave  _ before  _ we get into trouble…"

\---

"I hear there is a Fire Days festival in a village near here, Prince Zuko." Uncle said, pointedly, over dinner. "Perhaps you could use this chance to unwind. I am certain the food and performances there will be good reminders of home." 

Zuko stabbed his chopsticks into the fish with more force than intended, tearing it into small pieces. "I really don't want any reminders of what I've lost right now, Uncle. With every day that Zhao closes in on the Avatar, the chance that I'll ever see home again slips further away."

"That chance is not entirely gone, Prince Zuko." Uncle reminded him. "You have been so depressed the last few days, not giving the men any orders, and I thought perhaps a reminder of home would do you some good." 

"I… I thank you for your consideration, Uncle, but I'm fine." 

Zuko had very much  _ not  _ been fine, and it didn't take someone as observant as Uncle to notice. Surely, most of the crew had noticed his moping by now. 

No, not moping. Introspection. He was not  _ moping.  _

Uncle had sent the ship North, docking near some busy colony towns there, so Zuko could pick up the Avatar's trail should he change his mind. He appreciated the gesture, he really did, but his constant failure weighed heavily on him. 

Even when he used every resource at his disposal, betraying the trust of his oldest friend in the process, he  _ still  _ couldn't succeed. Instead, he consistently proved correct his father's opinions about his physical abilities and mental faculties, or lack thereof, and he was tired of seeing his own shortcomings doom him. 

Zhao would succeed where he could not, would curry his father's favor and rise through the ranks, and his short-sightedness, his impulsivity, would doom hundreds, if not thousands, of Zuko's own people to meaningless deaths. The man was incompetent and unrestrained, and yet  _ still  _ he had succeeded where Zuko could not. 

The whole situation turned his stomach sour, and even the first taste of fresh fish in weeks couldn't revive his appetite. 

"Well, if you change your mind, the men and I will be going ashore. I hope to see you at the festival, Prince Zuko, but I will understand if you do not feel up to attending." 

\---

Their disguises were as flimsy as usual, Aang having very little consideration for subtlety, and it was a huge relief when they discovered the festival was a masquerade.

No better way to blend in than to wear an outlandish costume among a sea of similarly-costumed citizens, after all. Sokka almost felt safe. 

Well, as safe as traveling with the Avatar himself, the world's last hope for peace, with Fire Nation soldiers breathing down their necks, could possibly feel. 

Katara chose their masks for them, putting Sokka in a red mask with an exaggerated frown, and led the way deeper into the festival. 

Aang was excited by absolutely everything they saw. A puppet show, a row of dancers in one large dragon costume, the fireworks constantly blasting overhead- Aang spun around, trying to get a good look at it all. 

"I'm gonna go hunt down some food, you have fun wrangling Aang." Sokka walked off with a wave. Katara folded her arms, and Sokka was sure she was making a face at him under the mask. 

It didn't take long to find a booth selling something edible, several such booths lining the town's streets. 

"Ooh, what d'you have here?" Sokka wiggled his fingers in anticipation, getting a closer look at the sizzling bags of… something. 

"Flaming fire flakes." The merchant claimed proudly. "Best in town!" 

Zuko had mentioned these as a common festival food, the time he'd told Sokka about some festival he couldn't attend because of his station. Sokka had told him about their own festivals, in turn, but a village as small as his didn't have anything that compared to this, it turned out. 

"I'll take 'em!" Sokka said eagerly, passing off a few coin, hoping Fire Nation colonies accepted Earth Kingdom currency. 

"Here you go! Enjoy!" 

Sokka lifted his mask, eagerly stuffing a handful of the treat into his mouth. He immediately realized he'd spoken too soon, thinking of these as 'edible'. 

Like most Fire Nation food, it was spicy. Incredibly spicy. Far too spicy for Sokka's untrained tongue, and he quickly attempted to cool the burning sensation searing his entire tongue, waving a hand desperately in front of his mouth. 

"Ack! Hot, hot!"

A voice broke into guffaws nearby, nearly snorting with laughter. "Still can't handle a little heat, huh?" The man said, lifting the edge of his mask. 

Sokka stared in shock. "You're Zuko's cook!" 

The gap-toothed grin the man shot back confirmed his accusation.

"And you've got a cat's tongue, hah! Come on, kid, let's get you something more your speed." 

Sokka was too surprised to fight as the short man grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him off, stealing the rest of the fire flakes from him. 

"What are you doing here?" He asked as the cook brought him to another stand selling treats. "Is Zuko here, too?"

The cook purchased a pair of meat skewers, handing them off. "You like meat, right? General Iroh said you were happy about the Earth Kingdom jerky." 

Sokka frowned, biting a piece of meat off one skewer. "Oh, wow, that's really good." 

"The General sent us ashore for a bit of leave. Wanted us to take a load off. As far as I'm aware, Prince Zuko declined to join in." The cook explained. 

"Are you gonna, uh…" Sokka glanced around, looking for his sister and Aang. The familiar orange and yellow Air Nomad garb blended in with the fire-themed decorations, but he saw the blue of Katara's dress among the crowd near a busy stage. 

"Why, are you implying that you're not here alone? See, I didn't see the Avatar around anywhere, so I certainly wouldn't assume you were here with him." The short man said with a wink. 

"You know what?" Sokka responded, playing along. "I did come here alone, actually. Couldn't tell you where the Avatar is." 

The cook belted out a loud laugh, slapping Sokka firmly on the back. "That's the spirit! Come on, let me show you around the place! There's plenty to see at a good ol' Fire Nation-style festival!" 

\---

Zuko leaned over the railing of the ship, watching the fireworks shimmer over the brightly-lit village below. 

Part of him desperately wanted to take his uncle's advice, to take the chance to wind down. 

The tiny voice in the back of his mind, the one that said  _ you might be able to find information on the Avatar's whereabouts,  _ kept him bound to the deck. 

He wasn't willing to give up his duty, no, but he was just as unwilling to continue giving up everything else to pursue it. If he went to the festival for information, he'd be throwing away Uncle's olive branch. On the other hand, if he went to the festival simply to enjoy himself, he'd be wasting time better spent pursuing his goal. 

Either way, he was avoiding his duty by staying here, wasn't he? His indecision was still a decision, in the end. He was choosing not to pursue, regardless, so why not accept his Uncle's kindness? 

He let out a heavy sigh, pushing back from the railing. His boots rang a rhythm across the empty deck, metal on metal, as he made for his rooms. 

He would simply take things as they went, pursue his investigation only if the opportunity presented itself, and otherwise try to enjoy himself. It was the least he could do, in repayment for Uncle's patience. 

He got a sense of déjà vu, recalling a similar decision he'd made when infiltrating Pohuai Fortress, and his gut churned.

Then, he'd abandoned his original goal, risking Sokka's health to pursue the Avatar instead. Regardless of how it had worked out, that had been the choice he'd made. Would he make it again, should he be presented with a similar conundrum?

He shook his head, dislodging those thoughts, retrieving something more comfortable than his armor from the armoire. The chance that this little festival would even produce such a promising lead was laughably small. He was working himself up over nothing, surely. 

\---

Uncle Iroh was overjoyed to see Sokka at the festival, eagerly inviting him to join the pai sho table he was stationed at, asking him about what he thought of the various booths and performances. The old man had his mask pulled off to the side, freeing his mouth for sips of some dark-colored tea he was enjoying. Sokka, himself, had yet to finish his second skewer, leaving his own mask perched on top of his head. 

"It's been really exciting, actually." Sokka admitted. "I've never seen anything like it." 

"I'm glad to hear it! You know, I'm disappointed my nephew couldn't make it. He hasn't had much chance to enjoy festivals like this, himself." 

"I remember him telling me. Something about needing to appear 'above the common folk' or something like that?" Sokka emphasized his disdain with a silly voice, mocking the Fire Lord's words. 

Uncle Iroh laughed. "That does sound like my brother, hah! He always did care more for appearances than for substance. Oh, but don't let anyone hear you talking like that, hm? At least, as long as you are here." 

"I'll keep that in mind, Uncle Iroh." 

Lieutenant Jee elbowed him in the side. " _ General  _ Iroh." 

"Oh, no, no!" Uncle Iroh laughed. "The boy can call me whatever he likes! He is dear to my nephew, after all." 

Sokka flushed, sliding his mask to cover his face before any of them noticed. 

"Hmph." Lieutenant Jee let the topic go, unwilling to argue with the old general. 

"Are you up for a game? I would hate to take you away from the festival if you're still enjoying it." 

Sokka shook his head. "I should really be getting back to the others before they miss me." 

"Ah, that is a pity. Another time, then?" 

Sokka nodded, and Uncle Iroh smiled. "Excellent, I'll look forward to it. Enjoy the rest of the festival!" 

Sokka waved, leaving behind the group of soldiers, the medic taking his place across the pai sho board from Uncle Iroh. He looked around for some sign of the others, and, seeing none, wandered off in the direction of the stage he'd seen Katara at before.

The single performer who'd been up on stage before had been joined by two more, the three of them directing their flames to dance in unison. It was mesmerizing, the easy way with which they controlled the fires, forming the shapes of dragons in midair. Their fine control was absolutely insane. 

No Katara yet, though, and he kept searching. They wouldn't have gone far without him, would they? Then again, he had been off 'getting food' for half an hour and hadn't seen them. 

Unexpectedly, a hand grabbed him by the wrist, tugging him down an unlit street. 

Sokka yelped, struggling against the hand. "Let me go! What are you doing?!" 

His captor's other hand slipped under his mask to clap over his mouth. "Shut up! Don't make a scene!" Hissed a familiar voice.

Zuko?! What was he doing here? Didn't the others say he stayed behind?

He was led away from the booths and clamor, ducking with Zuko around a wall. 

Sokka looked to the hand squeezing his forearm, then up to the mask Zuko wore. The white face, facial features drawn in sweeping red strokes to mimic a deep grimace, revealed nothing about the expression hidden beneath.

"What's your plan?" Sokka asked suspiciously. "Gonna interrogate me? Force me to reveal where Aang is? Get a bounty hunter to track him by my scent?" 

Zuko flinched. "I deserve that." 

"Yeah. You do." 

"I just want to talk. Please."

Sokka wrestled with indecision for a moment, glancing around them. He still saw no sign of his sister or the Avatar. "Okay. But you say one thing I don't like, and I'm leaving."

Sokka lifted his mask, leveling a glare at the taller boy. Hesitantly, Zuko followed suit, grimacing mask uncovering a lost expression beneath. Sokka softened. 

"What is it?" He asked. 

"You need to get to your friends and get out of here. As soon as possible."

\---

He had noticed almost as soon as he'd set foot on the wharf. The entire dockside was full of loitering Fire Nation soldiers. He attempted to feign nonchalance, making his way to the city gates, and overheard a familiar voice barking orders on a deck high above. 

"Keep your eyes peeled! I won't stand for anyone slacking on the job tonight! The Avatar's bison was spotted flying this way, and I won't have him slipping out of my hands again!" 

Zuko's heart quickened in his chest, a thrill of anticipation warring with an anxious churning. 

Of course he couldn't afford to take a night's rest. The slightest attempt to relax and here Zhao was, swooping in. 

Zuko marched to town, uncertain as to his goal here, but knowing he couldn't allow Zhao to win. 

He'd grabbed a mask as he passed the gates, covering his inconveniently distinctive face, and pushed through the crowds within. Perhaps he'd spot the Avatar quickly, far before Zhao or his cronies… and then what? 

Uncle was loitering at a table, surrounded by several of the men, enjoying games and refreshments in the festive atmosphere. Zuko studiously avoided the area.

It wasn't until he grew near the crowded main stage, a firebending performance in full swing, that he spotted one of them. 

The characteristic shaved sides of the wolf-tail were starkly visible under the ribbons tying the mask in place, and the blue pants peeking out from beneath the long cloak stood in stark contrast to the crowd's reds.

Zuko acted fast, drawing Sokka away from the crowd, despite his struggling, and delivered the news. 

"Zhao is here." He said by way of explanation. "His men have this place surrounded."

Sokka ran a hand along his hair, the motion restrained by the mask seated there. "Oh, man, I shouldn't have left them alone…" 

"What do you mean? Where are the others?" 

"Wha- I'm not gonna tell you!" Sokka squawked indignantly. "I don't even know, anyway- Shit, does Zhao have them already?!" 

Zuko shook his head, holding Sokka still by the shoulders. "No, I heard him ordering his men around on the way here. They don't know you're at this festival, they just know you're in the area." 

"Oh, that's- that's good, then… wait, but you do!" Sokka pointed an accusing finger at him. "You said last time you weren't gonna give up on capturing Aang!"

"I  _ also  _ said that Zhao getting him is the worst-case scenario!" Zuko whisper-shouted, aware of how loud the echo in the darkened streets could be. "Just trust me, okay?" 

"After everything?!" Sokka was less conscious of his volume, shouting openly in frustration. "You really think I would?!"

Zuko flinched. "Maybe not. But I did hope." 

Sokka considered, brows furrowed, looking out to the busy street just around the corner. "I can't go find the others, knowing you're here, and I can't let you wander around, not knowing where they are." He justified. 

"So? What's your plan?" Zuko wasn't following. 

"So, the two of us stick around here and keep an eye on the situation. When Zhao's soldiers start acting up, we'll know trouble's started." 

"And in the meantime?" 

\---

The festival had plenty of attractions to keep them occupied, and the central location allowed Sokka to keep a close eye on the movements of the guards and soldiers milling about. 

He had successfully caught three goldfish in the time it took Zuko to get frustrated, smoke billowing from under his festival mask and paper net tossed at the nearest wall. 

"Maybe we should try something else?" Sokka suggested, gently taking one pale hand in his own and tugging the taller boy away from the game. Zuko allowed himself to be dragged, begrudgingly, and Sokka returned the bagged goldfish to the vendor, nodding to the younger kids who were struggling, yet another paper net tearing in their grip. 

"Where to next?" Sokka asked, falling in beside Zuko, squeezing the hand still clasped in his. Zuko suddenly tugged the hand away as though burned.

"Uh, we could try…" He swiveled around, checking out the nearby booths. "There's a dart game over there. How about that?"

"Yeah! Sounds great!" 

The two made their way over to the booth, pushed along by the throng of festival attendees. 

A soldier in full Fire Navy uniform was interrogating a young woman, who was holding her young son behind her, and denying any sighting of the Avatar. 

"Thank you for your cooperation, miss. Have you seen anything else strange, then? Perhaps some shady figures, or anything unexpected?"

"No, nothing like that… oh! There was a cloaked man skulking through the alleys earlier, though! I lost track of him, but maybe that's who you're looking for…?" 

A cloaked man? Didn't ring any bells. 

Anyway, it seemed Zhao still wasn't on their trail yet. Sokka let out a tentative sigh of relief. 

"What is it?" Zuko muttered, leaning over to follow his line of sight.

Sokka shook his head, looking studiously toward their destination. "The soldiers are asking around. Doesn't seem like they've found Aang, yet."

"Oh, nephew! I'm so glad you decided to join us!" Uncle Iroh's jovial voice rang through the crowd. Zuko flinched.

"Hi, Uncle." He greeted sheepishly. 

"Ah, and I see you've found your friend, as well! Excellent, excellent. I hope you're having a good time? He hasn't tricked you into trying any more spicy snacks, has he?" Uncle Iroh guffawed, clearly amused by his own joke. 

"Well, he certainly didn't  _ warn  _ me that the fire gummies would be so hot!" Sokka replied, grinning up at Zuko, nearly forgetting he couldn't see his face through the mask.

"They're not even hot! They're sweets, they're for little kids!" Zuko defended. 

"He's supposed to be making it up to me by winning me prizes, but so far I'm kicking his butt at all the games." 

"We've only tried two!"

"Yeah, and I kicked your butt at both of them!"

Uncle Iroh chuckled, knowing twinkle in his eye, mask still pulled off to the side. "Well, I should let you two get back to your date. Thank you, again, for taking me up on my offer, nephew. Have fun!" 

Sokka's indignant squawk was matched by Zuko's identical one. 

"This isn't a date!" Sokka screeched, at the same time as Zuko whined, "Uncle!"

The old General simply waved, his laughter continuing as he left them alone together. 

"Ugh, meddlesome old man…" Zuko grumbled. 

"Do you still want to try the darts?" Sokka tried, pretending nothing had changed and that there was no suffocating tension. 

"Not if Uncle or my crew is around,  _ spying  _ on us… it's way too weird." 

"Hmm, maybe we could find someplace more private, then?" Sokka suggested, then immediately regretted his choice of words. If the steam suddenly rising from Zuko's shoulders was any indication, he'd gotten the same idea. 

Instead of a reply, Zuko gave a strained squeak, then cleared his throat and tried again. "Uh, actually, we could try to get a better view of the fireworks? It's getting pretty late, they're probably gonna do a big finale soon." 

Sokka gasped. "That sounds awesome! What makes the finale different from the regular fireworks?"

Zuko took Sokka by the wrist, leading him off the main street again, telling him about fireworks shows he'd seen as a child. In the capital city, fireworks were always set off in tandem with firebending dancers, and the big finale involved the entire troupe coming out at once and bending the fireworks themselves. 

"I don't know what they've got planned here, though." Zuko grunted, boosting Sokka up onto a low section of roof, then lithely swinging himself up as well. "The view's always prettiest when it's darker, though, so we should get away from all the lights."

"That makes sense." Sokka struggled to get his footing, scraping the soles of his boots against the second-story wall in an attempt to get purchase. Zuko crouched, taking him by the forearms and tugging him up. "How are you so good at this?" He complained, gesturing to him springing up to the tallest level with ease. 

"Lots of practice." Zuko shrugged. He laid down on the roof, reaching down an arm for Sokka to grab. "Mostly on the ship. I can get to the bridge from the deck without going inside, now." 

"What, were you that desperate to avoid your uncle?" Sokka joked, pulling himself up using the offered arm. Zuko tugged him hard as he cleared the edge, overshooting just enough to have Sokka fall into his chest. Zuko used his free hand to steady him by the shoulder, putting a bit of distance between them again. 

"It was another kind of training. It takes a lot of strength and endurance to climb, and that helps my firebending."

"Uh-huh." 

Zuko scratched the back of his neck. "Also, it's pretty boring out at sea for long stretches of time." 

"Ah-hah!" Sokka pointed at him, dancing around a bit. "I knew it!" 

"Knew what?" Zuko snapped.

"Knew you were still fun deep down in there, somewhere. Under all of the angst." 

Zuko huffed, hopping easily to another rooftop and leaving Sokka in his dust.

"Hey! Wait! It was a joke! You're not fun at all, really!" 

Zuko picked up speed, putting several roofs between them, and Sokka groaned. 

"First, he drags me all the way up here, then he strands me… real nice." 

He nervously sidled to the edge of the roof, looking down at the far drop below. The gap between the buildings was pretty small, but the risk was pretty scary. Still, he'd be admitting defeat if he just stayed here, so he threw himself across to the next roof. 

He overshot by a good margin, ending up several feet deep onto the adjacent roof, and his confidence immediately boosted. 

It was with only a few awkward slips and stumbles that he made his way after the other boy, reaching the wall surrounding the town fairly quickly. Zuko pointed down an alleyway as he arrived, drawing his attention to the pile of explosives arranged there. 

"Looks like that's one of the spots they're using for the finale fireworks. We might be a little too close here, what do you think?" 

Sokka barely registered the question, looking out over the forest beyond. The small hill the town was built upon afforded them a sprawling view of the lush landscape, only the tallest trees reaching their level up here on the wall. He sat, dangling his legs over the edge. 

"It's beautiful." He murmured. 

Zuko stiffened, turned to share the view, and seated himself gingerly beside him. "Yeah." 

Sokka stared, watching the tiny shapes of creatures flitting to and fro, the species native to the region still so foreign to him. How quickly they'd grown used to the change in landscape after their lives turned upside down. They hadn't had much time to adjust, having to take so many things in stride. 

Even now, he was seated between two worlds so different from home. The lush forest, the kind of foliage that was desperately rare in the frigid south, where only the most stubborn plant life resolutely hung on. The fire festival, spicy food and firebenders and strange games. 

It was surreal. And yet, the most surreal of all…

He glanced to Zuko beside him, the pale boy having pushed his mask to the side once more, staring out at the forest as well. 

"I missed this." He admitted. 

Zuko's forehead drew in confusion. "I thought you didn't have festivals like this back home?" 

Sokka shook his head. "No, not the festival. I meant, sitting next to you like this. Just… hanging out. No war, no Avatar. I missed it." 

Zuko looked guilty. "I'm sorry. If I hadn't screwed everything up, lost my honor…" 

Sokka grimaced. "I think it would've ended up like this one way or another. Eventually. Even if you hadn't been sent on your big quest, even if I hadn't been the one to find the Avatar, we still would have been on opposite sides. We always were." 

The two looked out to the trees instead of one another, letting the heavy tension settle between them, like a stone wall pushing them apart. As familiar as this felt, sitting together like this, things would never go back to that time. 

It was while staring off, looking at anything but Zuko's guilty expression, that movement caught Sokka's eye. "Wait. What's that, in the river?" 

"The river?" Zuko followed his pointing finger. His good eye widened in terror. "Shit, those are Fire Navy boats! They must be Zhao's, he must have found something!" 

Zuko made to hop down, but Sokka grabbed him by the elbow. "Wait! If Zhao found them, we need to get Appa." 

"Appa? Who-?"

Sokka stared at him in disbelief. "The sky bison? Big, fluffy, arrow on its head? The one we're always riding around on?" 

Zuko groaned. "I'm familiar with the bison, I just didn't know its name!" 

"Really? Every time Aang gets away on him, he shouts 'Appa, yip yip'! That didn't register?" 

"How was I supposed to know any of that was the thing's name?!" 

Zuko had a point. The catchphrase was already nonsense, after all. Sokka dropped it, letting Zuko lead the way to ground level, then taking the lead out of town. 

"I hope Appa's still where we left him…" 

\---

The bison was so poorly-hidden, Zuko had to berate himself for not finding it sooner, even if the awful hiding place was a few hours' walk outside the village gates. The beast was crouched behind some low-growing bushes, hiding its face in two of its many feet. 

"Appa!" Sokka called as they drew near, and the bison surged forward, greeting the boy with a long swipe of its drooly tongue. 

The beast was less excited about seeing Zuko, though, and lowed angrily at him, taking some form of defensive stance. From the bushes, the lemur appeared, chattering loudly.

"Guys, guys! He's not here to hurt anyone, calm down!" Sokka called, palms flat out to the creatures in a placating gesture. 

The bison remained wary, showing its side to the boys, but the lemur became curious, circling Zuko and sniffing at his boots. 

"Sokka… you should go on without me. Get to your friends before Zhao does." 

"What? You're not coming with me?" Sokka seemed genuinely surprised, as though he assumed Zuko would be on board with a full rescue mission. 

He wondered if the Avatar had given them the full details of the events at Pohuai. 

"No. It's getting pretty late, anyway, and Uncle will be wondering where I went. I should be getting back." He paused, suddenly remembering their reason for touring the festival together. "Oh, you don't have to worry about me following after you or anything, I wasn't intending-" 

"Zuko…" Sokka held his gaze for a long moment, like he was warring with himself over saying something more. "Thank you. For… I should be going, too."

The lemur curled around the boy's shoulders as he climbed the bison's side. He hesitated for a moment, catching Zuko's gaze, before snapping the reigns.

Zuko watched the bison grow smaller, zipping in the direction of the river at top speed. He sighed, trudging back to the docks. He'd be lucky to make it before dawn broke, at this point, and nothing would save him from Uncle's questioning.

Maybe Sokka had a point, regarding alternate uses of his climbing abilities.

\---

"So, let me get this straight." Sokka began, addressing the other passengers aboard Appa's saddle. "You two were smuggled out of the festival by a Fire Nation deserter, who snuck you into a secret camp to see another Fire Nation deserter, who agreed to teach you firebending, you immediately burn my sister, she figures out how to heal with magic, and then Zhao shows up and burns down all his own boats? Did I get all that?"

"Yep! Pretty eventful night, huh?" Aang grinned. 

"Eventful isn't half of it! Why'd you leave me behind?!"

"Well…" Katara looked guilty. Good. "You were talking to Zuko's uncle when we were on the way out of town. It seemed too risky to try to get your attention." 

"Oh." Sokka deflated. That was a pretty good reason, actually. 

"So, what  _ were  _ you doing while we were with Jeong Jeong? I mean, before you came to rescue us." 

Sokka shrugged. "Oh, nothing. Just wandering the festival, looking for you guys. Played some games, ate some meat. Did you know they even make their gummy candy spicy? It's a trap, I tell you!" 

Aang and Katara laughed at his expense. 

"Sounds like you got a pretty relaxing night off, then." Katara observed.

"You didn't get any sleep, though, did you? You must be pretty tired." Aang added. 

"I am, I really am." Sokka yawned loudly, proving his point. "Next time, I won't insist we leave Appa so far away from town. I think it's worth the risk not to have to walk so far. I'm bushed!" 

He layed back, snuggling into the tightly-secured bedrolls, letting his tired eyes drift shut. Katara laughed, but didn't stop him. 

"Well, get some rest. I'd say you earned it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOME NOTES!  
> -猫舌(lit. cat tongue) is a japanese phrase meaning someone cant handle hot (temperature) foods! they dont have an equivalent for spicy foods (japanese food isnt often spicy, so an aversion to spice is more default), but i thought itd be fun to throw in there (bc fire nation food is both temperature and spicy hot lol)  
> -since sokka wasnt with them, katara and aang didnt get as close to the stage, so katara didnt get volunteered, so aang didnt interrupt the performance and get caught, so they didnt have to call appa to escape  
> -i moved up the training timetable so that jeong jeong started aang on the leaf exercise at dawn instead of breathing and meditating (both things airbenders r really good at so it didnt even make sense to make him do them)   
> -why wont these losers just kiss already i set up a whole date please im begging me


	13. The Waterbending Master

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for casual homophobia in this one!! it made sense to me for the northern water tribe to be homophobic if they were also misogynistic so thats that on that  
> OH ALSO  
> i live in The South and i dont know how the whole sun thing works so if i fucked up majorly and its physically painful feel free to tell me lmao  
> but i did think itd be funny to have Admiral Loser attack the nwt when theres barely any sunlight so

It had been two days since they'd left the Northern Air Temple, with the kooky Earth Kingdom denizens that had taken it over, heading vaguely northward in an attempt to track down their sister tribe. 

It had been nearly a week since they'd encountered Zuko. 

His tiny ship hadn't so much as appeared on the horizon. After the festival, he'd just… disappeared. Like he'd given up the chase. 

As much as Sokka wanted to feel relief at the concept, knowing what else would have had to have been sacrificed alongside made him worry for him. Zuko always took things so seriously, always passionate about everything, and his disappearance didn't sit well with him. 

It seemed to sit perfectly well with Katara, though. 

"It's such a relief not to see him dogging our steps, you know? I feel like we can finally just take our time and concentrate on the goal!" 

"If we don't find the Northern Water Tribe soon, though, Appa's gonna be swimming the rest of the way." Sokka pointed out. "Can't he fly any higher?"

"Hey, you'd be tired, too! We can take turns sleeping in the saddle, but Appa's had to stay up for two days straight!" Aang snapped. 

The airbender hadn't been taking much time to sleep, remaining awake in solidarity with his bison. It made him crabby, snapping at the slightest grumble, and it put Sokka on edge. Half his personality was complaining! If Aang was going to gripe about it, what did he have left?!

Before he could snap back, they were interrupted by the sudden appearance of a sharp iceberg that hadn't been there just moments before. Appa swerved too slow to miss it, lowing as his side grazed the ice heavily, and the bison splashed down into the freezing waters. Another spike of ice encroached, climbing up one of his legs, slowing him down enough for their assailants to catch up. 

"Waterbenders!" Katara cheered. "We must be near the Northern Water Tribe!" 

The other tribesmen didn't seem nearly so excited to see them, surrounding them in a shelf of ice and pointing spears their way. 

"Who are you? Where do you hail from?" One of them shouted, standing at the edge of his raft. 

"I'm Katara, and this is my brother, Sokka! We're from the Southern Tribe!" Katara explained. The spears lowered. "We're traveling with the Avatar!" 

Hushed murmurs spread across the rafts while Aang waved brightly at them. 

"We apologize for our hasty actions, Sokka and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. We welcome you, and the Avatar, to our city." The spokesperson called. 

Sokka nudged Katara in the side. "City?" Just how different  _ was _ the Northern Tribe?

She shrugged. 

\---

The city was absolutely resplendent. Waterbenders lined the walls, using their talents to operate a sophisticated lock system, raising Appa from the low-tide sea level up to meet the canals within the walls. Every structure in the city had been meticulously crafted by master artisans, each unique and shimmering in the weak light of the winter sun. Canoes drifted this way and that, guided by yet more benders, shuttling citizens to and fro around the sprawling city. 

If they'd been impressed by the elaborate earthen architecture of Omashu, that paled in comparison to the marvel that was the Northern Water Tribe. 

Katara subtly mimicked the stances of the benders that passed, her eyes sharp as she memorized the movements. Aang nearly fell off of Appa's wide head, twisting and turning to see more of the city. Passersby waved with excitement as they passed, trying to get the attention of the Avatar and his companions. 

Sokka noticed none of this, eyes glued to the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. 

She was almost ethereal, gliding past in a canoe larger and more ostentatious than most, posture impeccable, in heavy layers of intricately embroidered fabrics and the purest white furs. Her thick hair, arranged artfully and clasped with gemstone-studded accessories, gleamed white as the icy buildings surrounding them. 

She turned her gaze over to him as they passed, full lips parted slightly in surprise, and he swore her sapphire-blue eyes glowed in the weak sunlight. 

"This place is beautiful, isn't it?" Katara's voice cut in, and time resumed. 

"Yeah... she is." Sokka agreed, a dopey smile splitting his face. 

\---

They were guided to a large hall, already prepared for an extravagant banquet, and Sokka had to wonder how they prepared everything so quickly. A retainer, different from the one that had guided them here, attempted to quickly catch them up to speed on the customs and expectations of the event. She ran through a list of important names, pointing out the nobles in the room who they should remember, and Sokka quickly gave up remembering most of them. So many uptight folks in fancy clothes gossipped to one another over long tables, delicately nibbling at the many dishes provided there, far too many for any of them to  _ really  _ be all that important. He wondered if it was possible to be any further out of his element. Even the food was disorienting, familiar, yet strange, using the same ingredients they used back home, but in the wrong combinations. 

Still, he was a growing boy, and couldn't turn down any sort of food presented to him, regardless of context. He was hastily shoving some of everything into his mouth, curious about the new flavors, when Chief Arnook called for the guests' attention.

"Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Tribe." He announced, indicating the siblings with a sweeping gesture. "They have brought with them someone very special, someone who many of us believed had disappeared from this world until now." He turned to Aang, sweeping his other arm out toward the suddenly-sheepish boy. "The Avatar!" 

The guests cheered the announcement, overjoyed to be joined by such a special guest. Chief Arnook raised his hands, calling for silence once more. 

"We also celebrate my daughter's sixteenth birthday." The beautiful girl from before was escorted into the hall, where she took her place beside the Chief. "Tomorrow, Princess Yue will visit the Spirit Oasis and ask for the spirits to reveal the soul bonded to hers." 

Sokka's jaw dropped in shock. Princess? How did this keep happening to him?!

"Thank you, father." The Princess replied graciously, her voice gentle and as lovely as Sokka expected it to be. "I pray that the guidance the spirits provide to me may bolster our hope and joy in these troubled times." 

The Princess curtsied, then took her designated place gracefully at the end of the long table, directly next to Sokka himself. 

"Now!" Chief Arnook drew attention once more for one last announcement. "Master Pakku and his students will perform!"

An old man, one of the nobles pointed out to them before the banquet that he'd failed to remember, took to the stage, flanked by two younger men. The three began to weave large amounts of water between them, in a display of skill and power, to the applause of the guests. None were more enthusiastic than Aang and Katara, and none less so than Sokka. 

He glanced over at Princess Yue, seated politely beside him, the waterbending display dancing lights across her doe-like eyes. 

"Hi, uh… I'm Sokka. Southern Water Tribe?"

She bowed shallowly, eyes squinting in a less-reserved smile than expected. "It's very nice to meet you." 

She sounded entirely sincere. Sokka swore his heart was beating twice as fast as normal. 

"So, uh, you're a princess, huh?" Sokka almost flinched. He was too loud, his gestures too big… but she just smiled, nodded, and turned to face him more fully. "You know," he tried, "back in my tribe, I'm kind of like a prince myself." 

It wasn't  _ necessarily  _ a lie. Their father was Chief, just like Arnook was here. 

Behind him, Katara scoffed. "Prince of what?" She muttered.

"It's true!" Aang piped up, kneeling so he was visible over Katara's head. "His soulmate's a prince, so that makes him royalty, too!" 

"That's not how it works, Aang!" Sokka snapped, trying to sear the airbender with his glare. 

Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. Princess Yue looked embarrassed, leaning back to sit on her feet, posture perfectly poised once more. "Oh, you already know who you're bonded to? That's very exciting. I'm very happy for you." 

She sounded very professional, perfectly polite, all trace of her sincerity vanished. Sokka deflated. 

"Yeah, uh… I'm surprised you guys know about soulmate stuff here. Most places we've been haven't been so familiar." 

The Princess nodded. "Oh, yes! They're very important to us, here. It's very much expected that one should marry their soulmate. Although…" She looked off, uncertainly, as though she wanted to say more but wasn't sure if she should. 

"Yeah, they're the same for us, back home. We do a ritual when you turn sixteen… guess that's the same here?" 

"Do you have a spirit oasis in the South, as well?" The Princess asked.

Katara shook her head. "No, it's a little more complicated than that for us. It's so incredible that you have such a strong spiritual place nearby! Where is it?" 

"Oh, it's just north of the city, directly on the North Pole proper. There's a little cove there, warm year-round, with koi fish living in the pond. I could show you sometime, if you're planning to stay for a time?" She looked hopeful, glancing over at Sokka. 

"Yeah! We need to find a waterbending teacher so I can learn all the elements!" Aang informed her. 

"I will speak with Master Pakku for you, young Avatar." Chief Arnook placed a hand on Aang's shoulder, gesturing for him to follow. The waterbending master had just completed his performance, to the applause of the assembly, and was waiting near the stage as guests came to congratulate him and his students personally. 

The Princess fidgeted, looking pointedly away from Sokka again. "I'd love to talk more, but I should also be going. It's expected that I greet every guest individually before the night ends."

"Oh, okay. I guess we'll see each other around, then?" Sokka asked hopefully. 

Princess Yue smiled, barely touching the corners of her mouth, but narrowing her eyes. "I look forward to it." She said softly, rising smoothly and giving them another shallow bow. 

"I can't believe you!" Katara hissed as the Princess left earshot. 

"What did I do?!" Sokka squawked. 

"Flirting with the princess? Who do you think you are?" 

"She was flirting with me, too!" Sokka hissed in his defense. "Well, until Aang spilled the royal beans."  _ Thanks, Aang. _

"I'm just saying. Don't get in over your head. She's way out of your league." 

\---

Music night must have been more subdued than usual, because Zuko didn't hear any off-key singing reaching his quarters tonight. It was just as well, as he was not in the mood to be bothered by it, still warring with himself as he replayed his decision a week ago not to follow when the Avatar was, unexpectedly, so close. 

Was it the right thing? Or was his judgement clouded by his sudden, desperate desire to win back Sokka's trust after seeing him ready himself for yet another betrayal? 

Worst of all, he couldn't imagine having made any other decision.

A knock came at the hatch, startling him from his thoughts, and he groaned. Uncle always pestered him to join in on music night, making pointed comments about the many instruments he was trained with by the royal tutors, and tonight had begun with a lament about their lack of a tsungi horn player, since Uncle was the only other one who could play it and he was taking vocals for the evening. 

"For the last time, Uncle, I am  _ not  _ playing the tsungi horn!" He snapped as the hatch opened, regardless of his lack of response to the knocking. 

"That is not why I am here." Uncle sounded nervous, unusual for him, and was glancing behind his shoulder. "There's a bit of a problem regarding our plans..." 

It was then that Zuko realized Uncle had not come alone. Stepping into the doorway behind him, smug look firmly plastered across his slimy face, was the biggest asshole in the Fire Navy. 

"I'm taking your crew." Zhao informed him, casual, as though it were some minor order. 

"What?!" Zuko cried in disbelief. 

"I need them for an expedition to the North Pole." He continued. 

"Uncle? Is that true?" Zuko pleaded for a negative. 

"I'm afraid so." Uncle responded, gravely serious. "He's taking everyone, even the cook!" Now he was playing up the doddering old fool act, pretending to weep into his sleeve. As expected, he refused to take anything seriously for very long. 

"It's a pity you won't be there to see me at my triumph, but I can't risk you getting in my way again." 

Without his crew, he was as good as stranded. He couldn't operate the ship on his own, and he couldn't hire replacement crew at the harbor, either. That would be considered 'hiring mercenaries', and he didn't have the funds or authority to do so. He knew full well, though, that Zhao certainly  _ did,  _ and didn't need to commandeer his paltry crew to bolster his numbers. 

It was a power play, plain and simple, just like every other time he'd swept in and taken what he pleased. 

Uncle was only barely fast enough to stop Zuko as he lunged for the Admiral. 

Zhao strode further into the room, smirking, cocky, but his face fell the moment his gaze fell upon the dual dao, on full display. 

"I wasn't aware you were skilled with broadswords, Prince Zuko." He commented, pointedly. 

"I'm not." Zuko lied. "They're antiques, just for decoration."

Zhao pulled a sword from the wall, examining it closely. They were well-cared-for, recently oiled and sharpened, with fine grooves from wear. Not for the first time, Zuko wished he made a better liar. 

"Have you heard of the Blue Spirit, General Iroh?" Zhao asked, letting Zuko know the game was up. 

"Just rumors." Uncle responded smoothly. "I don't think he is real."

"Oh, he's real, all right." Zhao snarled. "He's a criminal, and an  _ enemy  _ of the Fire Nation." He passed the sword, pommel first, to Uncle. "But I have a feeling  _ justice  _ will catch up to him soon." 

His gaze held Zuko's for a long moment, barely-repressed anger lighting his dull, amber eyes, before he swept out of the room, his business concluded. 

The hatch slammed closed emphatically, and Zuko slid down the wall onto his bed. 

"What are we gonna do?" 

\---

Sokka woke before the others the next day, after the moon had set and before the sun had risen. It was hard to tell, since this early into spring there would be only a few hours of sunlight altogether, but he assumed it was early morning. Just another disorienting thing about the North Pole; They'd left home midsummer, but had crossed the equator at some point and now late winter had crossed into early spring. 

He woke Aang and Katara, letting them know it was almost time to get to their waterbending lesson, getting himself ready as they stumbled around sleepily. 

"What are you going to do while we're training?" Katara yawned.

"Oh, I was thinking I'd find out where the warriors up here do their stuff. Get a good workout in, you know. No need to wait up for me."

"Okay." Katara replied dreamily, fingers attempting to wind her braid twice and failing before Sokka took over, and nodded off while he finished up. 

"Hey, no falling back asleep!" He warned. "I know the party ended late last night, but the old guy said you needed to be there bright and early."

"Man, I was really hoping to get some time off." Aang whined. 

Still, they dutifully departed, headed for the large arena where they were told to meet Master Pakku, and Sokka retrieved his weapons from his satchel. Digging for the seldom-used club, settled at the bottom beneath his extra clothes, Sokka knocked loose a tightly-bound stack of parchment, sending it sliding into the furs lining the floor. He hesitated, holding it for a long moment, then untied the leather cording holding the pages together. 

Tucked in the very center, kept flat by the pressure, petals fully dried now, was the panda lily he'd picked and pressed in a moment of sentimentality. He gently grazed a finger along one flattened petal, then folded it back into its hiding place once more, securing it by the cord. 

It was stupid, he knew, to hang on to it, when the one it reminded him of was so dead-set on betraying him at every turn, but…

He hadn't followed. He'd let Sokka take Appa right to Aang, and he hadn't followed. A tiny blossom of hope had bloomed in Sokka's chest, as sentimental and fragile as the pressed panda lily, and he was just as reluctant to throw it away. 

Tucking the parchment back into his pack and slinging the club across his shoulders next to the boomerang, Sokka headed out onto the street. 

\---

The training area was more difficult to find than he'd expected, and the warriors there more reluctant to train with an unproven teenager, but he'd eventually gotten a decent workout in, joining in with target practice next to other boomerang wielders. He'd been sent away before the warriors began sparring, just as the sun finally rose, with the excuse that he was just too young and scrawny to be a decent challenge. 

He decidedly ignored the snickering voices referring to him as a 'fragile princess' or joking that 'his prince would defend him'. 

It seemed that rumors spread quickly among the sheltered community here. Damn Aang and damn his big mouth. 

In a sour mood, he stomped off down the now-busy streets, citizens greeting the fleeting sunlight by strolling along the canals. His stomach rumbled at the smell of some sort of food drifting by, reminding him that lunchtime was approaching. He'd have to figure out where to find something to eat. 

A familiar canoe drifted past, beneath the bridge he was crossing, and his train of thought was derailed. 

"Princess Yue! Princess Yue!" He called, racing down to canal-level. "Good morning!" 

She giggled, that small smile that squinted her eyes returning. "It's nearly midday, you know. Did you just wake up?"

"No, well, it's just- the sun just rose, so- I've been up for a while, you know, training, getting buff… What are you up to?!" 

Princess Yue's laughter was like the most incredible music, even if it was at his expense. "I'm sure you don't care to hear about my duties." She dismissed, shrugging slightly. 

"Well, maybe when you get a break from whatever duties those are, we could meet up? Talk about… whatever it is?" 

She smiled. "I'd like that." Her face suddenly fell, like she was distraught. "Oh, but I'm all booked up today. When the sun sets, I need to go to the Spirit Oasis… how about tonight, after I speak with the spirits? We could meet up on that bridge!" 

She pointed out the bridge in question, one fairly near where the three of them were staying. Sokka nodded eagerly. 

"Yes! That sounds great! I'll see you-" He was suddenly fully submerged in icy water, having walked directly into the canal. Princess Yue's tinkling laughter rang out as he resurfaced, and he couldn't even find it in himself to be upset. 

Yeah… maybe today would be a good day, after all.

\---

Instead of going back to warrior training (the rumors about him had fully spread already, and the snickering started the moment he showed his face), he retreated to the room he shared with Aang and Katara and started whittling.

He'd seen Smellerbee do it, back at the treehouse, patiently shaping the wood into trinkets while she kept watch, and was reminded of the practical whittling he'd learned as a child. Surely, if he could shape bone into a fishhook, he could shape wood into a fish? 

\---

He could not. Princess Yue couldn't even figure out what it was supposed to be. 

"It's a… bear?" She guessed.

"Actually, it's supposed to be a fish." He explained, turning it the right way. "See, it has a fin." 

"Oh." 

"I thought, since you were going to the spirits thing today, and you said there were koi fish at the oasis, it would be, like… a cool little memento?"

"That's very sweet of you." Her voice was subdued, depressed almost. 

"So… how did it go? Did you get to meet… whoever it is?" Sokka pressed on, trying to figure out what was eating her. 

She shook her head, biting her lip, tears escaping from her eyes, despite how furiously she squeezed them shut in defense. 

"Oh, I'm- I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"No." She interrupted. "No, it's… it's fine." 

Despite her assurances, her tears were flowing freely now, staining the smooth skin of her round cheeks. 

"Oh. Okay." He didn't know what to say, fiddling with the poorly-made carved fish. It was such a disappointment, as much of a disappointment as she found him, surely. It was a stupid thing to ask. 

"Sokka…" She took a deep breath, shaky with emotion. "Tell me about him? Your Prince." 

Sokka froze. What could he tell her? The truth would get him labeled a threat at best, and a traitor at worst. It felt wrong, though, to lie to her right now. He didn't know what the spirits had told her, but she was looking for some kind of comfort. 

So, he told her half-truths. He gave her the highlights, the very best parts of his personality, the kinds of things he'd be embarrassed to death if Katara heard him say. 

"He's… passionate. And determined. He's kind, and caring, even if he keeps- even if he makes some stupid mistakes. A lot. He always puts his duty to his people over everything else, and I guess that's admirable, but it can be really frustrating, too." Sokka scratched the back of his head, seeing her trying to cover her face to hide her sobs, but forged on. "He's handsome, too, in a way. He's got some awful hair right now, but… since the first time we met, when I was eight, I thought he had the prettiest eyes of anyone in the world." He laughed to himself. "Not that I'd actually seen many people at that point. Not in our tiny little village. But I've travelled around a lot now and… I dunno, they're still up there." 

Despite his awkward stuttering as he danced around details, and although she was still hiccupping through sobs, Princess Yue began to smile again. 

"He sounds wonderful, Sokka. You're very lucky. I hope you two are able to be happy together. I think… I think you really deserve to be happy." 

It sounded like she was trying to say something else, but Sokka couldn't guess what, and decided not to push it. She'd tell him when she was ready, he was sure. 

"This was… this was what I needed, I think. I have to go, now, but…" She took both of his hands in her own, slender in their perfectly-tailored gloves, warm even through the fabric. "Thank you so much, Sokka. For everything." 

"Oh, uh… I'm not sure what I did, but… I guess you're welcome?" He took one hand back from her grasp to scratch at his jaw uncertainly. 

She squeezed his remaining hand in both of her own. "Goodbye, Sokka." 

And then she was gone. 

\---

When Zuko regained his consciousness, he almost wished he  _ had  _ died in the blast. Everything hurt, he was absolutely certain he had several broken bones, and he couldn't tell if he was hot with fever or if his burns were that severe. 

Uncle was beside him, gently cleaning his surface-level wounds, and even that light pressure made him wince, hissing his discomfort.

"I am sorry, but you will not heal properly if I do not clean your wounds." 

"Where are we?" He looked around, seeing only rough rock surrounding them. 

"I've brought you to a cave near the cove. I couldn't risk bringing you back to town, it was too far. Do you know what happened, Nephew?"

He struggled to remember, the pulsing pain making it difficult to even think. "There was an explosion. It destroyed the whole ship. I remember…" The reptile-bird. That familiar, squawking monstrosity. "It was pirates. They must have snuck on board with blasting jelly or something." He cursed. "Zhao must have sent them!" 

"Are you certain?" Uncle asked. "That's quite the accusation."

"Of course it was him! You heard him- he'd do anything to get me out of the way!" He attempted to sit upright, but almost immediately collapsed again with pain. 

"Please, Zuko, try not to move until I am able to assess the extent of your injuries. You are lucky to have survived at all." Uncle fussed over him some more, poking along his ribcage for tender spots. When he hissed at the pressure, Uncle just dug in, checking the bones for breaks. 

"Well, good news, Nephew! It seems like you did not fracture any ribs, only dislocated them. I am going to try to get them back in place now, and it may hurt quite a bit, but I promise you'll feel better when I am done."

Zuko nodded, bracing himself against the pain. Uncle warmed his hands up, applying heat to the area before he began. He then took hold of Zuko's upper arm, using it to twist his torso around, coaxing the bones back into place. 

Zuko hissed and shouted in turns, pain spiking up his spine with the movement. Uncle muttered apologies throughout the process, wincing alongside his nephew. 

A triplet of popping sensations later, the pain in his chest suddenly abated, leaving behind only a dull ache. He breathed through it, trying to keep his movements shallow, and stared up at the stumpy stalactites clinging to the cave ceiling. 

"Better?" Uncle asked, tentatively. 

Zuko nodded. 

"Excellent. Does anything else need attention?"

With the distracting pain in his chest subsided, Zuko took stock of what still hurt. All of his muscles were sore from the impact, followed by the icy water. His skin was tender from scratches and burns. All of that would simply need time to heal. As far as anything else major… his shin felt more than bruised, and he wondered if he would be safe to put pressure on it. 

"No, Uncle. I feel much better, thank you." He lied. 

Uncle smiled warmly. 

"Where's Zhao's ship? I need to get on board before he departs."

Uncle's smile fell in an instant.

\---

When Sokka returned to the room, Aang and Katara were already back. Aang was in his subdued, comforting mode, so Katara must have been in a bad mood. 

"How's warrior training going?" She asked, very obviously taking the chance at a distraction. 

The question threw him off, still mired in thoughts of Princess Yue and her tears. "Oh, that? Not great. They're all treating me like a girl because word got out my soulmate's a guy. Thanks for that, by the way." Aang looked appropriately guilty. "Even Princess Yue! I thought we were on a date but then all she wants to know about is  _ him!"  _ He threw his hands up, slumping to the floor. "What about you guys? How's waterbending training?" 

Katara groaned. 

"Master  _ Poophead  _ won't teach her because she's a girl." It was the most devastating insult he'd ever heard coming out of the peace-loving airbender's mouth. The guy must have really been a huge asshole. 

"What is  _ with  _ these people! I know we had our gendered traditions back home, but this is just ridiculous!" Katara huffed. "I've spent all day learning to heal! Which is great, I mean, I'm sure it'll be a very useful skill, but it's  _ not  _ what I came all this way for!" 

Sokka looked between the two of them, not understanding how they could have missed the easy solution to this roadblock. "Why don't  _ you  _ just teach her, Aang?"

"Why didn't I think of that!" Katara cheered. "At night, you can teach me whatever forms you learned from Master Pakku! He can't be mad about it if an outsider teaches me, right?" 

"Yeah! That's a great idea! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Aang's perky attitude slipped right back into place, and he propelled himself into a standing position and out the door with a swift gust of wind. 

"Thanks for the idea, Sokka!" Katara called as she followed.

Sokka waved, returning to staring at the ceiling. 

At least  _ they  _ had a workaround. 

\---

As it turned out, 'Master Poophead' was a stubborn old coot, and didn't appreciate Aang stepping on his toes. He'd claimed it was an insult to his very culture, apparently, and dismissed Aang as his student. 

Katara dragged both boys out of bed the next morning, insisting she help Aang get back into Pakku's good graces. 

It took some wandering to find him, unfortunately, as he was not at the training grounds. His regular students stood around uncomfortably, as though terrified the moment they let their guards down he would appear, and had no answers as to where he might be. 

It was only after waving down a servant Aang remembered from the banquet that they finally got directions. 

The waterbending master was in conference with the Chief, several familiar faces from the banquet, and Princess Yue. Chief Arnook was making an announcement of some sort to the gathered nobles, and Sokka motioned for the others to hang back until he was finished.

"I thank you for gathering this morning. I know you all have important duties to attend to but, as you all are aware, Princess Yue sat vigil with the spirits yesterday, and they revealed to her her bonded spirit. It is with great pleasure that I cement her long-standing betrothal to Hahn." 

A smug-looking teenager stood from behind another noble, bowing shallowly to the Chief before taking his seat again. He winked widely at Princess Yue, who smiled back politely, without it reaching her eyes. 

Sokka's jaw dropped in shock. She'd told him she hadn't met anyone when she went to the spirit oasis! Had she lied to him? 

"The spirits have confirmed their bond and blessed their union. We will discuss marriage preparations henceforth. For now, I hope you all look forward to the announcement banquet next week." 

Chief Arnook nodded to the assembly, and many of them began to shuffle around. Katara took this as her cue to step forward, the determined tapping of her boots against the smooth ice drawing the attention of the room. 

"Please, Chief Arnook, I have a request!" She called. Murmurs spread around the nobles, tittering at her impudence. The Chief took a seat at the forefront of the gathering and gestured to her to continue. 

"Last night, Master Pakku dismissed Aang as his student for breaking with tradition and attempting to teach me waterbending. I would like to take the blame for his actions. Aang is an outsider, and he's not familiar with the Water Tribe's traditions or culture. I was the one to ask him to break tradition for me, and Aang should not be punished for that." 

"What do you want me to do?" Chief Arnook asked her, a deep frown settling into his features. " _ Force  _ Master Pakku to take Aang back as his student?"

"Yes." Katara pleaded. "Please."

"Well, then, I suspect he might change his mind if you were to swallow your pride and apologize properly." 

Pakku looked smug. Of course the Chief would take his side. 

Katara looked to Aang, then back to the gathered nobles. Swallowing her pride? When she wasn't even in the wrong? Unlikely. 

Her shoulders slumped, and Sokka almost believed she was actually about to cave, when Pakku ruined any chance of that ever happening with one smug sentence. 

"I'm waiting, little girl." He practically purred, gloating under the Chief's favor. 

"No!" She shouted. "No way am I apologizing to a sour old man like you!" 

The loud cracking noise was a familiar accompaniment to her outrage by now, the ice responding to her fury. Several decorative fixtures shattered under her power, sending shards of ice and pools of water swirling around the hall. 

"Katara…" Aang attempted to placate her, grimacing anxiously at the damage to the room. 

"I'll be outside if you're  _ man enough  _ to fight me!" 

\---

It was easy enough to slip aboard the ship and into the armory for a disguise, even with the sharp pain shooting up his leg when he put too much weight on it. Zuko was beginning to seriously doubt the integrity of the Fire Nation's patrol regulations. 

Worse, once he was in full armor, no one batted an eye at his movements. There were hundreds of soldiers on board this single vessel alone, and another recruit wasn't worth so much as a glance. He stored supplies into an emergency kayak, even stealing a full set of winter gear from the armory, all without so much as a "What are your orders, private?". 

It was a disgrace. 

He knew Uncle was on board somewhere, chatting with the Admiral and cementing his own place here. Uncle was always so patient with him, endlessly supportive. Even now. 

He knew already he would have nowhere to go if he actually somehow succeeded. A one-person kayak was no place to store a prisoner, and certainly wouldn't make it all the way back to the mainland. 

Success wasn't the goal anymore. The goal was only Zhao's defeat. 

\---

Master Pakku followed her outside, but still refused to take her seriously. Katara's blood boiled. He only left the hall at all in order to mock her. 

He had no idea what she was capable of. 

Goading him into the fight was the hard part. The fight itself was invigorating, and freeing, and she felt like she could move entire glaciers, her rage fueling her power. His smug look fell quickly, witnessing the raw strength she possessed, even lacking any formal training. 

She remembered the feeling rushing through her when she'd saved Aang from that platypus bear, the chi singing through her veins, and envisioned Master Pakku with the same snarling beak. She'd overwhelm him one way or another, forcing him to witness her.

Despite the fury the two benders raged at one another, drawing both to their limits in both strength and agility, the battle was decided with a single dirty trick. 

With her limbs restrained by the icy spikes, her ability to direct the water was cut off almost entirely, and Master Pakku stole the victory. 

He smugly strode off, leaving her trapped, and was only stopped short by the sight of her mother's necklace, the betrothal necklace passed down from Gran-Gran. 

"This is my necklace…" The awful old man declared. 

Katara struggled to get free, pushing at the ice with both her body and her bending. He'd already stolen her dreams of learning under a master bender, he couldn't steal this from her, too! "No, it's not! It's mine! Give it back!"

"I made this sixty years ago for the love of my life, for Kanna." His voice was soft, thoughts far away, in the past, and the ice he'd been upholding around Katara melted in an instant. 

"My Gran-Gran was supposed to marry you?" She wondered. 

Master Pakku nodded, looking sadly at the necklace. "I carved this for your grandmother when we got engaged. I thought we would have a long, happy life together. I loved her." 

The pieces slotted together. Yagoda had told her some of the story, but… "But she didn't love you, did she? It was an arranged marriage."

Master Pakku's face contorted, long-buried grief rising to the surface. "Our betrothal was decided when we were young. We always knew we would be wed one day. I was elated. She was beautiful, and strong-willed, and I felt lucky to have her. When I came of age and went to the spirit oasis for guidance, I did not even try to meditate. I was terrified the spirits would tell me Kanna was not the one. I did what was expected of me and announced to everyone that the spirits had shown me to her. When it came time for her to do the same, she threw away her duty, telling everyone that her true soulmate was of the Southern Water Tribe, and that she would break the arrangement to go to him." 

Katara didn't understand the customs, but she did know her grandmother well. "She refused to live a lie for you. That was courageous of her."

Behind them, Princess Yue broke into loud sobs, fleeing the area, Sokka close behind her. 

\---

Princess Yue had fled to the same bridge they'd spoken on the previous night. Sokka approached her cautiously, seeing her shoulders shake with quiet sobs.

"Hey." He called, voice carefully soft. 

"Sokka…" She sniffled, trying to force herself calm. "What is it?" 

"You didn't really see that Hahn guy at the oasis, did you?" It wasn't a question. The conflict between the Chief's words and Princess Yue's made sense now. 

"I had to tell them what they wanted to hear." She confirmed. "The betrothal between us was decided years ago. I had hoped…" She touched something on her neck, hidden beneath her thick furs. Sokka could imagine what it was- a betrothal necklace from Hahn. "I had hoped the spirits would show me a different path." 

"You know…" Sokka leaned near her, bumping his shoulder into hers. She leaned against him heavily. "You can make your own path. If what the spirits decide brings you nothing but trouble, you don't have to go through with it. With any of it." 

She shook her head. "I do, though. I… I can't tell you just yet, but I really don't have a choice. This is bigger than me, bigger than what I want. This is my duty, Sokka." 

He almost laughed at the familiarity. "Where have I heard that one before…" 

"Sokka, I like you. A lot. But this is… this is something I can't drag you into. You deserve to be happy, with your Prince, and you don't need to be dragged down by my duty. I don't want anyone else to be hurt by… what has to happen." 

"Princess… there's something I have to tell you. But you have to promise to keep it a secret. Really, not a soul. Not your dad, not your fiancé, not a peep." 

Princess Yue seemed confused, not expecting what seemed like an abrupt change in topic, but she nodded. "I promise." 

"I didn't want to tell you everything, because you seemed really upset, but… my whole soulmate thing isn't what you think it is." 

Her lips parted in surprise, dewey blue eyes wide, but she didn't stop him, so he continued. 

"My soulmate… he's the Prince of the Fire Nation. The Crown Prince. First in line to be Fire Lord someday. So if you're worried about your duty dragging me down… honestly, I'd rather it be yours." 

She took a long moment to consider his words, staring off into the canal below, to the thin slice of moon reflected in the gently stirring surface. 

"I had no idea… You spoke so highly of him last night." She said, finally. 

Sokka shrugged. "Like I said, you were upset. And… I dunno, maybe he is a good guy. But his duty fucking  _ stinks."  _

She gasped, then barked out a laugh, surprised at his harsh statement. 

"Seriously. The spirits aren't all-knowing or all-powerful. We shape our own destinies. If all they have planned for you is suffering, well… wouldn't it be just a kick in the face if you could find happiness, anyway?" 

Princess Yue was laughing, despite the tears starting back up. "Thank you, Sokka."

"Anytime, Princess." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case it doesnt make sense (and because i dont have room to elaborate past what ive written already): the nwt still does arranged marriages even tho they care abt soulmate stuff  
> theres a few cases where the situation calls for you just straight up lying about your soulmate vision  
> in the case of arranged marriages where both parties are not soulmates, both parties are expected to lie  
> if your soulmate is the same gender as you, you either pick someone else (mlm wlw solidarity) or you say you saw no one  
> its more important to maintain the image that youre respecting the spirits than to actually do it, if that makes sense  
> ALSO  
> i planned zukos injuries before i wrote the chapter but then i actually literally dislocated a rib at work and now my partners making fun of me for having zuko dislocate ribs  
> AND LAST  
> im so sorry for the way the mood whiplash is in this like oh my god the stakes for zukos bits and sokkas bits r so hilariously different like  
> zuko almost DIES bc zhao tries to ASSASSINATE him  
> and sokka goes on a couple awkward dates  
> like  
> oh my god the mood for this chapter is all over the place


	14. The Siege of the North: Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> splitting this into two parts just like the episodes bc i dont want to post another 10k chapter if i can avoid it lol

One week turned into two, and Katara's waterbending was getting scary good. Pakku had finally agreed to train her, realizing he'd been clinging to the wrong traditions for the wrong reasons, and she'd quickly outpaced even the prodigy Avatar in both control and power. 

Sokka, meanwhile, had been spending time with the Princess. A lot of time. 

"So you don't have palaces in the Southern Tribe?" She asked, watching him balance along the railing of a bridge. He'd begun giving into his silly, childlike impulses quickly, realizing she'd had little time to be a child, herself. 

"Are you kidding? I grew up in a block of ice! It's not exactly a cultural hub." 

She laughed at that, for some reason. She laughed at a lot of things he said, for reasons he couldn't always predict. 

It was nice, giving her a taste of life free from the bonds of duty, but it often had the unfortunate side effect of reminding him sharply of similar conversations he'd had with a younger, less-angry Zuko. 

_ "Really? You've never seen a palace before?" The other boy had asked, wonder sparkling in his golden eyes.  _

_ "Nope! Your room is bigger than my whole house!"  _

_ "Wow… how do you fit all of your stuff, then?"  _

_ "We don't have this much stuff, you know! You don't need all this bed, for starters. My whole family could fit in this bed!"  _

_ "That makes sense… it gets kind of lonely here. There's too much empty space. I wish I could see your home."  _

Sokka shook the memories out of his head, now tainted by the memory of the time he did, actually, see Sokka's home. 

"Sokka… we shouldn't be doing this." Princess Yue's sad voice broke the mood, reminding him of the here and now. 

"What? We're just taking a walk." He argued. 

"I'm engaged, and you have your soulmate. It just feels…" She bit her lip, turning away. For a moment, Sokka felt guilty for inspiring her conflict, but then he got an idea.

"I know what you need. You need to meet my good friend, Appa!" The sky bison was cute, and furry, and best of all, slobbery. 

The Princess let him drag her all the way to the stables, her concerns immediately falling to the wayside, her curiosity taking over. 

As expected, the moment Appa saw a friend, he began to lick his broad tongue across Sokka's entire body, getting him all gross with bison slobber and making Princess Yue laugh hard enough to snort, a noise unbecoming of her standing but feeling like an absolute victory for Sokka. 

"Looks like you haven't been giving Appa enough attention!" She joked. 

"Come on, down boy! Let me go!" Sokka struggled, but Appa decided when his tongue bath was over. He was thoroughly drenched by slobber by the time Appa finally backed off, and he could get a stable hand to help with the saddle. 

"After everything I do for him!" Sokka huffed dramatically. "He just doesn't appreciate it! I clean his fur, scrub his toes, scratch his belly, and for what!" 

"Seems like he was just returning the favor!" She laughed. "Maybe he thought you needed a bath, as well!"

"Well, if I didn't before, I do now! Man, I wish Aang was here, he could blow me dry in seconds flat." 

Princess Yue stood by as he and the hand lifted the heavy saddle onto the bison's back, struggling with the weight. He waved the hand off, securing it himself, not trusting untrained hands to get the straps quite right. 

"Well, you ready to go?" 

"Mmhmm!" She intoned with excitement. Appa allowed them to climb up his tail, Sokka carefully leading the Princess, with her train trailing, into the saddle, guiding her to sit near the bison's head. 

"Hang on tight, okay? Don't let the wind push you off." Sokka instructed. 

She nodded. "Okay. Tight. Got it." Her well-tailored gloves gripped the saddle. 

Sokka settled into place on Appa's head, gripping the reins. "Yip yip!" 

Princess Yue squealed with delight as the bison took to the skies, zipping out over the water. Sokka clambered back into the saddle next to the Princess, allowing Appa to decide their path. 

"I can't believe it! He can really fly! Oh, this is incredible!" 

"Yep, we practically live up here." Sokka acknowledged proudly. He may have grown tired long ago of the bison's abilities, especially after spending too many nights resting in the saddle instead of in a bed, but Princess Yue had stars in her eyes, staring down at the waters far below. 

"It's so cold! Is it always like this?" She said, pointedly, leaning into his side. 

Sokka laughed. "You live in a palace made of ice! You can't tell me this is cold for you!" 

"Well, maybe it is! There's not wind in the palace, you know!" She leaned into him more heavily. 

He tucked his arms around her shoulders, squeezing her close. "Okay, okay. If you're going to be a big baby about it. Geez, are all royals this delicate?" 

She stiffened, leaning back again, sharply reminded of the reasons they shouldn't be doing this. He cursed internally.

"Sorry, it was a dumb joke, I know." He muttered. 

"No, no, you're fine, it's just…" 

"Yeah. I know." 

They turned their attention from one another back to the sea before them. Appa had circled around so they didn't get too far out, lazily drifting above the city wall, but the vantage point still revealed something troubling. 

"What is this?" Princess Yue asked, catching the dark snowflakes in her glove. 

"Soot. It has to be Fire Nation ships. They run on burning coal… this is way more than normal, though." He climbed forward, gripping Appa's reins. "Let's go, buddy. We need to see what we're up against." 

He urged the bison forward, out to sea and toward the source of the sooty snow. A dark cloud of ash billowed out, nearly obscuring the ships within it, but based on the number of scouting ships alone, Sokka felt nauseous. 

"We have to get back. Now. We have to warn your father."

\---

Chief Arnook immediately gathered the citizens towards the city center, most of them sheltering in what buildings could fit them, but the warriors and waterbenders were all called to the great hall, where he could address all the city's forces at once. 

"The day we have feared for so long has arrived. The Fire Nation is on our doorstep. It is with great sadness I call you here before me, knowing well that some of these faces may well vanish from our tribe. However, they will never vanish from our hearts." 

The solemnity of the room was palpable, the threat of death settling heavily on everyone's hearts. 

"Now, as we approach the battle for our existence, I call upon the great spirits. Spirit of the ocean! Spirit of the moon! Be with us!"

He lifted his hands to the ceiling above, allowing a moment of silence before moving on.

"I am going to need volunteers for a dangerous mission." 

Sokka stood abruptly, determination settling in. "Count me in." 

Whatever he could do to preserve his people, he would do it. He had failed last time, standing alone, abandoning them to their fate after the ship destroyed the outer wall. He would prove himself this time. 

"Sokka?" Katara called, concerned. Of course she, as a powerful bender who had always successfully protected what she needed to, wouldn't understand. 

"Be warned. Many of you will not return." The many men who stood were not dissuaded, Sokka included. "Come forward to receive my mark if you accept the task." 

\--- 

While the fighters who did not agree to the suicide mission went to defend the walls, Sokka and the other marked warriors followed Chief Arnook to an armory deeper in the palace. 

"Men, you'll be infiltrating the Fire Nation navy." The Chief explained. "That means you'll all need one of these uniforms."

A familiar face stepped into the room, in a horribly outdated uniform. Hahn stood proudly beside the Chief, ridiculous shoulder spikes reaching almost as high as the top of his head. 

Sokka couldn't hold back his laughter.

"What's your problem?" The boy pouted. 

"Fire Navy uniforms don't look like that." Sokka informed him. 

"Of course they do! These are real uniforms captured from actual Fire Navy soldiers." The boy insisted. 

"When? Like, a hundred years ago?" Sokka smirked, seeing the Chief's brows furrow.

"Eighty-five." Chief Arnook corrected. It still wasn't good.

"The Fire Nation doesn't wear shoulder spikes anymore." Sokka explained, walking up to Hahn to demonstrate. "The newer uniforms are more streamlined." He flicked one of the spikes, showing how flimsy and impractical they were. 

Hahn slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me!" He snapped. "How do you know we can trust him?" 

"Sokka is from our sister tribe, Hahn. He is a capable warrior, and I value his input." The Chief insisted. Sokka glowed under the praise.

Murmurs swept through the other warriors.

"Chief, you don't understand. This guy isn't just some backwater peasant with a boomerang. We can't trust him." 

Chief Arnook took a long look at his daughter's betrothed, considering his words. "What are you saying?"

"This guy is the Fire Prince's little boy toy. He'll betray us to the Fire Nation if he gets half a chance." He claimed, projecting his voice so there was no way anyone in the room could miss it. 

Sokka clenched his fists. "What the hell do you know?!" 

"Hahn, that's quite an accusation. What evidence do you have?" The Chief asked, calmly. 

"None! He has nothing!" Sokka shouted. Had the Princess sold him out? Was she closer to this guy than he'd thought? 

No, if she distrusted him, she wouldn't have spent so much time with him.

Then how…?

"What, you haven't heard? The Avatar practically shouted it at the banquet." Hahn reminded the Chief. "Next time, don't be so eager to tell everyone your soulmate is a Prince. As it turns out, there's only one of those between the three nation's royal families."

Shit. He hadn't thought of that. He didn't know much about the Earth Kingdom, other than that it seemed to be run as city-states rather than a cohesive whole, and King Bumi certainly hadn't had any teenage sons. 

"That's troubling news. Sokka, is this true?" The Chief looked to him, suspicion in his gaze. 

Sokka couldn't meet his eyes. "Who would you believe, anyway? Your daughter's fiancé or some Southern peasant?" 

"As I said, I value your input, Sokka. Your loyalty to the Avatar speaks to your trustworthiness enough, but your friendship has meant quite a lot to my daughter these past weeks. However, your silence on the matter gives me doubt." 

The fatherly disappointment and suspicion was almost too much. Sokka took a deep breath, steeling himself. "I can't deny that Hahn guessed right about who my soulmate is." He admitted. The murmurs around the room grew hostile. "But please believe me when I say that doesn't mean I'm not totally loyal to the Water Tribes. Prince Zuko has been chasing us, chasing the Avatar, since we left our home, and there's nothing between us." 

_ Except history, and memories, and that one not-date they had less than a month ago… _

"I would never do anything that would endanger my own people. Please. Trust me." 

Chief Arnook placed a hand on his shoulder. "I do. Thank you for your honesty, Sokka. Now, let's go over the goals for the infiltration. First, we need to identify their commanding officer." 

"Oh. His name is Zhao." Sokka offered quickly. "Middle-aged? Big sideburns, bigger temper?"

"That's… good to know. Well, then, next is determining the layout of their ships, so our forces can more efficiently destroy them."

"Do you want me to draw you schematics? Or just, like, describe it to you? I'm a pretty terrible artist." 

"Oh, come on!" Hahn groaned. "How is that not suspicious!"

"What?" Sokka crossed his arms defensively. "I was taken captive." 

"Hahn, show Sokka your respect. We cannot waste a valuable source of information. Men, the purpose of this mission has changed. You will now use what Sokka can tell us to sabotage as many of their ships as possible. We will head out at sunset. They will not advance under the moon's gaze if they know what's good for them."

\---

Weapons sharpened, canoes readied, the warriors set out for the Fire Nation ships, stilled on the horizon. They approached quietly and swiftly, each canoe approaching a different vessel, the cover of darkness and the lingering ash cloud protecting them from attack.

Sokka had been assigned to stay with Hahn, in order to shut the prince-to-be up about Sokka's supposed traitorous intentions. They were both decked out in the antique Fire Navy uniforms, hastily altered to be more in-line with the modern stock, and Sokka's faith in the plan waned as time went on. 

They wouldn't be bought as new recruits and would certainly be killed upon discovery. If he could get the two of them to the ship's armory and get changed… but Hahn was supposed to call the shots, and he insisted on heading directly to the bridge. 

They left their boat in the shadow of the navy vessel, climbing through a maintenance port into a narrow hallway. 

"Careful. They'll have patrols near here. We should be able to hear them coming, but..." 

Hahn rolled his eyes, strolling forward confidently. "If we can hear them coming, then there's no need to worry, right?" 

Except that some of the guards had realized the sound their boots made on the metal flooring, and had adjusted their gait accordingly. Zuko had never bothered to make an effort on his own ship, but Sokka was fully familiar with how catlike the boy's steps could be, even in metal armor, and he was sure other soldiers had learned the same subtlety.

Sokka said none of this aloud, following the cocky boy further into the ship. 

"Hey, you! What are you doing?" A voice called out, a soldier appearing from the perpendicular hallway. 

"We're new recruits." Hahn claimed without hesitation. 

"Yeah, right. Get better disguises next- Sokka?" 

The soldier slid the faceplate off of his helmet, eyes wide. 

"Lieutenant Jee?! What are you doing here?!" Surely, Zuko hadn't been given a fancy new ship, right? They'd been pretty sure by the flags that this was the commanding ship, so it should have been Zhao's.

"We were all reassigned- what are you doing here? This is the Admiral's vessel! It's dangerous!"

Hahn brandished his antique Fire Nation spear at the officer. "Ha, I knew it! You're working with them!" 

Sokka groaned. "Oh, shut up, will you?" He knocked the tip of the spear aside, ignoring Hahn's accusations. "Really? All of you? Is he that low on men?" 

Lieutenant Jee barked out a humorless laugh. "Not likely. It was just to get Prince Zuko out of the way." He looked like he wanted to say more, but held himself back. "Listen, I'll help you get off the ship safely, just… go back to the Water Tribe."

"Oh, no!" Hahn argued. "I'm not letting that happen! No friend of the Fire Nation is getting back into my city!" 

The Lieutenant sent several decisive punches his way, with short bursts of flame licking out of each one. Hahn clutched his spear in fear, dodging the fire blasts in a panic. "Just get out of here, kid. You're in over your head." 

"No! I'm going after Admiral Choy!" 

"Choy?" Lieutenant Jee muttered to Sokka. He shrugged. "He's up in the command post. Have at him, I won't stop you." 

Hahn seemed uncertain, but took the chance to charge past them and up to the bridge. 

"That kid's not gonna make it, is he?"

Sokka winced. "Not likely." 

"Come on, I'll escort you. I should be the only patrol down here for a while. I can get you out the way you came in." The Lieutenant offered. 

"Wait, one more thing- What happened to Zuko? When you say Zhao wanted him out of the way…?" 

Lieutenant Jee tensed, his expression strained. "I'm sorry, Sokka. Zhao ordered us all to leave the ship, and once it was empty, it was destroyed. General Iroh confirmed it before we set sail- Prince Zuko didn't make it." 

It would have hurt less to have been punched in the gut. "What- dead? There's no way… there's gotta be some mistake! Maybe his uncle's covering for him, or just didn't find his body, or-" 

"I'm sorry." Jee repeated. He placed a hand on the hastily-welded shoulder of Sokka's antique uniform, the weight steadying him. "Come on, where's your ship?"

"It's fine, I'll get back on my own. I… I could use a minute to myself, actually." 

Lieutenant Jee nodded. "Sure. Get going quickly, okay? Don't let them catch you. You'll have no friends here." 

"I will." Sokka assured him. Then, before he returned to his rounds, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." 

Sokka made his way to the maintenance entrance again quickly, sliding down into the canoe. He debated with himself for a long minute whether to take off with it, abandoning Hahn to his fate, but decided he should wait it out. If the boy was as big a coward as he'd seemed to be, he might turn tail at the first real soldier he came across. 

This, unfortunately, left Sokka alone with his thoughts. The Lieutenant had dropped quite a load onto him. Fair enough, he'd asked, but...

Dead? It couldn't be. Sokka wasn't sure, but he always thought he'd just  _ know  _ somehow. Through their connection. 

Then again, it wasn't a connection he'd taken much time to nurture, and their whole  _ thing  _ was so weird… but he hadn't even known. 

Before they set sail… he'd been gone for weeks. How long had it taken the fleet to arrive? And what had he been doing when they departed?

No, it wouldn't do to think about this right now. There was too much to do, too much at stake. His people needed him. Even if Hahn was an idiot, he could still make his way alone to the engine room, stalling it somehow. 

Instead of clicking into gear, forming a quick plan where all the pieces suddenly slotted together, Sokka's brain just hovered in a dense fog. He dropped his face into his hands, trying to force himself to focus, and only then realized his cheeks were wet with tears. 

The last, thin hold he had on his emotions severed, the dam broke, and the flood rushed forth. He curled in on himself, breaths catching on heavy sobs, and he mourned.

Long minutes passed, huddled alone in a canoe in the shadow of an enemy vessel, trying and failing to keep his grief silent. The creaking of rope from above him shook him back to reality. He snapped his gaze up.  _ Shit.  _

A kayak descended from overhead. In his distraction, he hadn't heard the movement above.  _ Stupid! This is not the place to feel sorry for yourself! _

A familiar voice called out softly, and Uncle Iroh's face leaned over the edge of the ship. 

"Remember your breath of fire! It could save your life out there!" 

"I will," came the reply, in a voice that nearly stopped Sokka's heart. 

"And put your hood up! Keep your ears warm!" Uncle Iroh continued, raising his voice to be heard as the kayak descended. 

"I'll be fine!" 

Zuko was balanced on the little vessel, lowering it carefully into the water, clad in thick, white clothing for warmth, and he was  _ alive. _

The little kayak touched down and Zuko busied himself with releasing it, not realizing just a short way along the hull rested another boat, its occupant staring in hesitant wonder.

Finally, he looked up, preparing his course, and caught Sokka's eye. "What-?" 

Sokka paddled the canoe over hastily, the small boat rocking with the surge of motion. "Zuko!" He barely managed to keep his voice down, emotion swelling in his chest. "Oh, spirits, Zuko! You're here!" 

The boats bumped together, and Sokka scrambled onto the kayak, years spent on similar vessels keeping his footing secure. 

"Sokka? What are you doing- have you been crying?" Zuko was completely shocked still, arms suddenly full of Water Tribe warrior, still processing his presence. 

"Jee told me you died! He said your ship was destroyed! With you on it!" Sokka pressed his face into the warm, soft fabric wrapped around Zuko's sturdy chest. 

"Oh. I'm sorry. I'm fine, though." Zuko placed his hands on Sokka's arms, coaxing him to allow some space. Reluctant, Sokka stepped back.

"You don't  _ look  _ fine! Look at your face!" Sokka held his jaw gently, running his thumbs along the visible injuries with a feather-light touch.

"Really, you don't have to worry about me. I don't need you and Uncle both playing mother hen." 

"Then stop doing dangerous things that make us worry!" Sokka huffed. 

"I know." 

The immediate rush of relief subsiding, Sokka remembered their situation. "Wait, what are you doing here? If you don't have a ship- You can't still be planning to capture Aang, can you?"

Zuko tensed, finally dropping his grip on Sokka's arms. "No, I- maybe, but- I don't really have a plan. I just can't let Zhao get to him." 

He seemed hesitant, uncertain. The fire that had been driving him, desperate to complete his task, it was gone. Like he'd fully given up all hope of success. "That's it?" 

Zuko nodded. "I don't know what will come after, but… the crew's been talking, the last few days. I think Zhao's going crazy. He's been rambling about spirits and libraries and he said something about 'removing the moon as a factor', whatever that means. I think Aang's in real danger." 

Sokka nodded, that little bloom of hope in his chest growing stronger. "Then we're on the same side, for now. What's the plan?" 

\---

The Water Tribe soldiers at the gate leveled spears at them as they approached. Zuko had his hood up, crouching to fake an injury. Sokka waved at them, showing his face fully. In his ancient uniform, on one of their boats, he didn't garner much suspicion. 

"Hey! Hahn was injured in the raid! I need to get him to Healer Yagoda!" He called. Zuko groaned in pain for dramatic effect.

The guards murmured to one another. 

"That's Hahn? Why is he dressed like that?" One shouted, suspiciously. 

Sokka glanced over at Zuko, crouched in the white winter clothes, and back at the guards. "Uh, we stole them from the ship! He fell in the water and we needed to get him warmed up?" Sokka grinned through his anxiety. He was never a great liar. 

"Alright, we'll let you in. Make sure you report to the Chief!" 

"Can do! Thanks, bud!" 

The waterbenders opened the gate, filling the locks and sending the little canoe on its way. 

Sokka sighed in relief, guiding their boat down the canal. 

"I can't believe that actually worked." Zuko muttered, keeping his voice low. 

"Me either. Come on, Aang's probably at the Spirit Oasis. He's gotta be doing some Avatar junk by now." 

The canoe moved quickly along the canals, the surrounding soldiers barely sparing them a glance before returning to their vigil. They continued on, deep into the heart of the city. 

"Princess Yue showed me this place last week." He explained, simply to break the silence. Zuko was tense, keeping his face as hidden as possible, the tension bleeding out and thickening the air between them. "It's supposed to be a hotspot for spirit mumbo jumbo. Aang always wants to talk to them whenever anything goes wrong." 

He guided the canoe over to a boarding area near the palace, helping Zuko off of the bobbing deck, the Prince's boots sliding for purchase on the slick ice near the canal. 

"We're not supposed to be here, but…" He took Zuko's hand, leading him up the wide steps to the tall, elaborate structure of the palace. "Hopefully, the guards are busy with the whole, you know, invasion thing." 

Sure enough, they weren't stopped, even as he led the Prince around the back of the building, along the wall separating the palace from the common folk. Only one guard stood, right at the gate, and he just nodded as Sokka passed, recognizing the Princess's new confidant immediately. As he remembered, a small, round door of wood sat in the very back of the wall, short enough to force anyone entering to crouch through.

"The oasis is through there." Sokka gestured to it, turning back to the entrance. "I'm going to go find Princess Yue. Keep Aang safe." 

"I will." Zuko called after him.

\---

Sokka's faith in him was disorienting, to say the least. He'd been so sure they'd end up opposed here, again, that he wouldn't even hear him out, but… here he was, in the heart of the Water Tribe City, as Sokka sent him directly to the Avatar. 

Zuko almost expected an ambush when he entered, but the little cove was calm, almost silent. A long channel connected the entrance to a small patch of grass, narrow lips along the edges of the water the only way across. There, at the edge of the pond, sat the Avatar, tattoos glowing, while Katara and another Water Tribe girl stood by, watching the boy nervously. 

Knowing he'd be seen and stopped before he could get near, Zuko made the impulsive decision to slip into the freezing water below. He could hold his breath for several minutes, after all, and should have plenty of time to swim below the surface over to the oasis. 

The water warmed as he made his way across, growing almost balmy near the grassy area, especially in comparison to the frigid water near the palace. Above him, short, wooden bridges swam into view, reaching over to the pond. Zuko surfaced, pulling himself up onto dry land, huffing out a quick puff of flame to warm his core once more. 

"You! Damn it, I should have known!" Katara, voice irate, moved easily into a defensive stance. 

"Wait!" Zuko shouted, dragging himself to his feet, clothing still heavy with water. "Let me explain!" 

"Oh, no! I won't have you twisting things around like you always do! I've had enough!" From the surrounding water, tendrils surged up, pushing into him with heavy force. He was knocked off balance, unable to defend, and she froze the water around him, trapping him inside. 

Just great. Things were going  _ exactly  _ as planned. Why had he expected Katara to react as well as her brother had? As far as she was concerned, she was defending the Avatar and Sokka both right now. 

Zuko huffed in frustration, tongues of flame reducing the ice to steam around him. "I don't want to fight you, Katara!"

"Go." The waterbender instructed the other girl, who dashed off toward the palace quickly, sparing only a glance at him as she passed. "You really think I'm going to give Aang up without a fight? You must really think we're stupid!"

"That's not- ugh!" Zuko groaned, seeing her draw up tall, shivering waves, standing between him and the Avatar. "I'm not here to capture him, either!" 

"There's no way I'm buying that!" One after another, Katara sent the waves hurtling toward him, coming in an unpredictable pattern with unmatched ferocity. He quickly realized using his flames to defend was useless, not compared to the speed and power of her blows. He settled for dodging, rolling beneath and around the surging waves, closing the distance between them rapidly. If he could just get near the Avatar…

Katara spun rapidly, sending enough water to lower the level in the channel over into his torso, pushing him away from the boy. He was pushed off of the grass entirely, across the channel, and up the wall, before she froze the entire column solid, with him inside. 

He coughed, the impact and pressure aggravating his barely-healed wounds. 

"And stay there!" She shouted, hands still poised to react should he disobey. 

He could feel the dawn in his gut before the sun ever peeked over the high glacier wall. Their time was up, and Zhao would begin his assault again any moment. 

"We don't have time for this, Katara!" He snarled. As the ground tremored, the Fire Navy's catapults resuming their onslaught, he summoned his flames to the surface, quickly melting the ice beneath them. He slid to the ground, boots landing softly in the dense grass, and sent a blast of flame towards Katara, knowing full well the setting of the moon would have weakened her. "Zhao will be here any minute! We need to get Aang out of here!" 

She staggered, his sudden attack having thrown her off balance. He took the chance, scooping the Avatar into his arms, and dashed off. 

He heard her take a deep breath, trying to call the water to herself despite the rising sunlight, but was caught utterly off-guard by the gust of wind that buffeted him, instead. 

The Avatar remained unmoving in his hands, which meant… 

"Did I do that?" She stared at her hands in wonder. 

He glanced at the waterfall behind them, then back at her, getting an idea. "You'll have to do better than that to catch me! I have the Avatar! What are you going to do?" 

As predicted, he easily goaded her into a rage, unpracticed blasts of air funneling toward him. He supported Aang's unresponsive body with one arm, across his shoulder, and used the other to swiftly melt handholds into the icy wall, as she continued to buffet him ever higher. 

"Ugh!" She screamed. "Aang!" 

Finally, the water answered her call again, but the surge of water gave him the last push he needed to fully clear the glacier and land on the open tundra above. 

From here, he had no plan, but Zhao would never think to look for the Avatar here. All he needed was to find some shelter. 

"Hang in there. I promised your friend I'd keep you safe." 

He would. Even if it killed him, he'd keep his word this time. 


	15. The Siege of the North: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter art as always by me, find me on tumblr at jovialjuggernaut-draws (i also post headcanons and fic ideas there!)  
> EDIT: thanks for 1000 kudos guys!! im drowning in all this support 😭😭❤

Katara was staring at her hands, looking lost, when Appa landed in the oasis next to her. 

Instead of Sokka finding Princess Yue, she'd found him, dragging him back to the oasis with her. 

"A firebender is trying to attack the Avatar!" She'd told him. "Your sister is fighting him off!" 

Unfortunately, Zuko was long gone, taking Aang with him. 

"I tried everything." Katara muttered. "I even airbended, somehow. But he just… he took him right out from under me." 

"Katara, listen." Sokka started. "He warned me Zhao was going to try something-" 

"You talked to him?!" Katara snapped back into focus, fury hardening her icy blue eyes. "You knew he was here and you did _nothing?_ I can't believe this." 

"No, you're not listening- he's trying to keep Aang safe! I asked him to!" 

"You _what_ ?!" Katara shrieked with fury. "He fed you the same garbage story and you _fell for it_ ?! Well, that's just great! Because he took Aang and ran off with him further inland! And with a storm coming later tonight! Aang could _freeze_ to death out there, and it'll be all your fault!" 

"Katara, seriously! Can't you just calm down for a second?!" Sokka groaned. 

"No, I can't just _calm down,_ Sokka! We _lost_ Aang, don't you get it?" She seethed, pulling herself up into Appa's saddle. "Come on. We need to find him as quickly as possible. We can still fix this." 

Sokka nodded, sliding down Appa's tail and jogging toward the still pond. 

"What- Sokka?! Get your butt back up here!" Katara ordered. 

Sokka ignored her, sitting down before the archway, cross-legged. "Yue, you said this is where you go for soulmate journey stuff, right?" 

"Um, yes?" Princess Yue glanced at Katara, uncertainly. "Why?" 

"If Zuko has him, I can find him. Just give me a minute." 

He took a deep breath, trying to meditate, as he'd seen Aang do so many times before. He'd never summoned a spirit on purpose before, and certainly not while awake, but if anyone could tell him where that jerk firebender was, it was Jin Lu.

His breath steadied, the girls watching with varied degrees of interest as he focussed, watching the koi swirl in the pond. Around and around they went, in an endless dance. It was mesmerising, definitely sending him into the empty-headed state he thought he was aiming for, and he allowed himself to be lost in the pattern. 

Slowly, the fish faded away, transforming into two scaled, finned women, twisting and turning in the pond joyfully. 

"Uh… hello, ladies." He greeted.

Though startled, they did not pause their dance. 

"Oh? Who are you?" The white-scaled woman asked. 

"You're not meant to be here." The black-scaled woman snapped. "Why do you intrude our sacred place?" 

"Oh, uh, sorry. I didn't mean to?" Sokka scratched his head, mussing his wolftail. "I'm trying to get in touch with Jin Lu, actually. Uh, ten feet tall, gold fur?"

"We're familiar." The black-scaled woman replied coldly. 

"Oh, stop it, La." The white-scaled woman chastised. "You must forgive her. She's under some unusual stress today." 

"You should be, too! I can't believe how lightly you're taking this!" La complained. "You distance yourself too much, Tui!" 

"And you allow your emotions to ebb and flow like the very tides!" 

"And who's doing is that?" 

"Excuse me?" Sokka felt the lovers' quarrel could go on for some time, and cut it short. "Can you help me find Jin Lu or not?" 

"Oh, he's already waiting for you!" Tui laughed. 

Sokka confused, looked up from the pond, where she waved her fish-like tail fin. There, tall and proud as always, was the very spirit he'd been looking for. 

"Oh." 

The golden deer walked past him, toward the waterfall feeding into the channel behind him. It barely paused to glance back, expecting him to follow. 

"Hey, buddy! Not even gonna say 'hi' first?" Sokka pouted, hands on his hips. The spirit snorted, tilting his head as though rolling his eyes. Sokka grinned, jogging after it. "You know what, you're right. We don't have time for that." 

\---

Zuko hefted the shockingly light body high on his back, wincing at the extra pressure on his barely-healed leg. It was near impossible to trudge through the snow and wind, his Fire Navy-issue winter gear nowhere near as suited for the conditions as some proper Water Tribe wear would have been. 

At least the sun was still out. 

Flames licked from his lips with every breath, Uncle's patient teachings ringing in his ear. 

_"Remember," he had said, "this technique requires complete control. If you forget yourself for a moment, the fire will burn you from the inside. Unlike your fire punches or the like, the flames manifest inside your body, and you must guide them out."_

Aang was warm in his grasp, for some reason, though the airbender had always seemed perfectly comfortable, regardless of the weather. Perhaps his people had a similar technique, and he was using it even now. 

The wind picked up again, bringing with it heavy snowfall. The beginnings of a blizzard. They would need to find shelter soon, or even their careful bending wouldn't keep both of them safe. Sokka had mentioned, once, building an emergency shelter in the snow, using its natural insulating properties to retain what heat you could, and he cursed that he hadn't asked for details. He'd have to find a natural shelter of some kind, and soon. 

\---

"Is this… normal? For him?" Princess Yue asked, leaning over the side of Appa's saddle with concern. 

Sokka's body had slumped over, lying perfectly still beside the pond. Unlike when Aang did the same, he didn't have any glowing tattoos to prove he was still alive. Only the shallow rise and fall of his chest indicated his continued survival, though he was otherwise perfectly still.

Katara shrugged. "I've never seen him contact the spirits before. From what he's told us, he's usually asleep when it happens."

"He certainly looks asleep now." The Princess remarked, watching thoughtfully. 

"He better not be." Katara crossed her arms, glaring at his immobile form. "Or, if he is, I hope it's a productive nap." 

\---

The loud cracking beneath his boots was the first warning Zuko got of the ice thinning beneath them. He stilled, panicked. A fall into icy water would spell the end for him and the Avatar both. 

_"I got in big trouble today," Sokka had started, changing the topic abruptly when Zuko had gone quiet. "I didn't check the ice good enough when we were going ice fishing, and the whole thing started breaking! We had to crawl back to shore, like this."_

_He'd laid down, demonstrating the flat crawl._

_"You have to make sure your weight is distributed as much as possible, Dad said. He said the pressure is what makes it break more."_

_Sokka had looked up at him, swinging his feet. "So no one even fell in the water or anything, but we couldn't catch any fish, so I still got in trouble! I have to do all the dishes for a whole week!"_

Zuko knelt slowly, sliding Aang down to the ice beside him. It would be risky, making it much harder to rescue the boy if something went wrong, but it was necessary.

He laid down fully, spreading his limbs out, and dragged Aang's limp body beside him. The cracking quieted, but followed them for several feet. Through the thickly-falling snow, it was almost impossible to see where the frozen lake ended. Zuko kept an eye out, scanning the horizon for anything resembling a shelter, and pressed on.

Long after the ice beneath them quieted, he remained flattened, not willing to risk the change in pressure. It wasn't until he finally, at long last, spotted a dark spot in the snow, some kind of rocky outcropping, did he risk standing again. 

The ice held, luckily, and Zuko pulled Aang into his grasp once more. The airbender's clothing was full of snow, and his fingers cold to the touch. Not a moment too soon. 

He brushed the snow off of them both as best he could, increasing the heat of his breath of fire, and carried the boy to what turned out to be a decently deep cave. 

Exhausted and freezing, he didn't bother checking further in for any creatures lying in wait. He'd deal with that if it came to it. 

For now, he unwound the rope he'd brought with him, spooling it on the floor of the cave. He had nothing else with which to make a fire, so he had to make do. 

The rope sparked easily, burning slowly along its length. Carefully, with controlled breaths, he kept the sparks from leaping across and catching more rope alight, preserving their fire for as long as possible. 

Aang's extremities warmed back up, his breaths coming out in foggy puffs. Good, that was one thing taken care of. 

"Zhao won't look for us this far out, I'm sure of it." Zuko assured the unresponsive Avatar, uncertain if he could even hear him in this state. "Don't worry, I won't let him get to you. I gave Sokka my word, and now I'm giving it to you, as well."

Unbeknownst to him, the recipient of his promise stood nearby, hidden in the spirit realm, guided as always by the golden deer, and heard every word. 

\---

Sokka was on his feet the moment his eyes shot open, rushing clumsily into Appa's saddle. "I know where they are. Let's go." 

"What? Sokka, wait! Aren't you going to tell us what happened?" Katara asked. 

"I'll explain on the way." He assured her, snapping the bison's reins. "Yip yip!" 

Appa took off into the sky, Sokka guiding him past the waterfall and along the path Jin Lu had shown him. Luckily, because Appa could fly, the terrain was no obstacle. 

"I was able to get the deer spirit to show me where Zuko is. He's in a cave a little ways out. He and Aang are both fine." He informed the other passengers. 

"Should we really be out in this blizzard?" Princess Yue worried, squinting beyond the saddle. 

"Appa flies using airbending, so we'll be safe from the worst of it." Katara explained. "Aang definitely shouldn't be, though. We need to get him back as fast as possible." 

"Already on it." Sokka assured her. "They didn't make it far." 

Already, the low-hanging sun was beginning to set again, beginning another long night. Zhao's men would be crippled for a while, and Aang had been successfully kept out of reach for the day. 

"Is that it?" Princess Yue asked, pointing out a dark shape ahead of them. 

Sokka squinted, bringing Appa down low, and checked the shape of it. "Looks like it. Let's go." 

Katara was off the bison first, sprinting ahead into the cave. 

"Katara, wait!" Sokka slid down after her, Appa giving him a little push forward with his broad nose. 

By the time he caught up, she was already toe-to-toe with Zuko, his face flushed with the cold, body shaking. He wasn't meant for this weather. 

"How dare you take him! Give him back!" She demanded, snow rising beneath her fingers. 

Zuko's jaw set with grim determination. "I can't let you bring him back to danger! He'll be safer out here!" 

"Safe?! With _you_?! Don't make me laugh!" She sent out a stream of water, aiming directly for Zuko's face, and he only narrowly summoned a large enough flame to dissipate it. 

"Katara, don't!" Sokka tried again, but she ignored him, sending a pillar of water up beneath Zuko's feet, freezing it in an instant. "Katara, I said _stop!"_

Sokka flung an arm out to stop her, and, with the sweeping gesture, tongues of flame burst forth. Katara's eyes widened, the pillar of ice encasing Zuko crumbling to snow as her focus shifted. In a panic, Sokka lunged for him, memories of hypothermia and frostbite victims flashing behind his eyes, and another ball of fire leapt to his call, turning the snow to steam in an instant. 

Katara had scrambled away, her breath coming in panicked gasps, clutching her arm. The fabric had been burned away, leaving angry red burns on the brown skin beneath, harsh proof that she hadn't imagined the sudden and unexpected burst of power from her brother. 

"Zuko!" Sokka shouted, closing the distance to the dangerously pale boy. He tugged him from the remaining snow and into his arms, feeling his face and neck. "Shit, he's too cold…" 

He held Zuko's hands up to his lips, puffing hot breaths across the knuckles to warm them, that too-hot burning still in his gut, and glowing embers spilled forth. Taking a firm hold on that small fire, Sokka focussed on the foreign heat inside of him, nurturing it with deep breaths until a proper flame spilled from between his lips. 

"Come on, come on, warm up…" He muttered, feeling his core grow hot and willing the warmth to seep into Zuko's. "I already cried for you once, don't make me do it again."

Behind them, Aang's eyes flew open, the airbender jolting upright in a panic. "We have to get back to the oasis! The spirits are in trouble- is Sokka breathing fire?" 

The absurdity of it caught up to him, and terrified laughter shook through him. "Yeah, I guess I am!" He croaked out. His throat felt raw, hot, but he didn't dare let up on the flames, fearing they would go out. 

"Ohh-kay, then! Guess I missed a lot while I was in the spirit world… Come on, you can keep doing… whatever it is you're doing on Appa! We need to go!" 

Sokka lifted Zuko in his arms, letting out a groan at the weight. "Geez, he's dense..." Aang hovered nearby, steadying him as he climbed up Appa's tail clumsily.

"We're taking him _with us?!_ " Katara hissed. "Aang, I know you can't hold a grudge, but please think about this!" 

"He'll freeze to death if we leave him!" Sokka snapped. Katara flinched at the hot flames chasing the words, clutching her injured arm. Guilty, Sokka shut his mouth tightly, shrinking in on himself. Small jets of flame still escaped from his nose as he breathed, illuminating Zuko's bruised features, and he turned his face away more fully. 

The saddle grew quiet, Katara too shaken to continue to argue, and Aang guided Appa back into the sky. 

Princess Yue, having remained silent for most of the exchange, moved carefully across the saddle to sit near Sokka. She glanced over at Katara, who was finally taking a moment to heal her arm, and kept her voice low. 

"Is this him?" She asked, watching Sokka's grim expression. 

He snorted, streams of fire flowing with it. "You have to ask?" 

"No, it's pretty obvious." She laughed, her poorly restrained smile squinting her eyes. "You know, you never mentioned…" Her slender fingers reached out for the wrinkled, pink tissue of the scar. Sokka snatched her hand away.

"Don't." He warned. "He- he wouldn't want you to." 

"Oh… oh, no. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" She drew away, putting both hands primly in her lap. "I'm sorry." 

"It's alright." He assured her, feeling guilty again. "I… I never mentioned it because… I dunno, it's not important. It's not who he is. His dad tried to mark him as a disgrace, a traitor, but that's not him. All the other stuff I told you? That's what's important." 

"Sokka…?" Katara's voice was quiet, but, in the heavy mood, it may as well have been a shout. Sokka was sharply reminded of her presence, having nearly forgotten entirely where he was, his world reduced down to Zuko's pale face, eyes still unopened, and Yue's gentle voice. Katara had still been there the whole time, though, and his sister had borne witness to the entire embarrassing confession. Sokka always ended up regretting his moments of vulnerability. 

"Yeah, I said what I said. So what?" He grumbled, defensively. The low tone scratched at the raw feeling in his throat, and he coughed against it. He would definitely need to get Katara to look at it later. 

"Guys, I don't think this is really the time to be fighting…" Aang's worried tone drew everyone's attention. "The moon's turning red." 

"That can't be good…" Katara murmured. What an understatement. 

Princess Yue gasped, clutching her head and slumping. "I feel faint." 

"I feel something, too. I think the moon spirit is in trouble." Aang's mouth set in a straight line, and he urged Appa to move faster. 

"I have something to tell you all." Yue announced. "I owe the moon spirit my life." 

"What do you mean?" Sokka prompted. 

"When I was born, I was very sick and very weak. Our healers did everything they could, but it wasn't enough. They told my mother and father I was going to die. That night, beneath the full moon, my father brought me to the spirit oasis and placed me in the pond. My hair turned white, I opened my eyes, and I began to cry. That's when they knew I would live.

"Two weeks ago, when you all arrived, I went to the spirits to receive their guidance. I told you, Sokka, that they didn't show me my soulmate, but that doesn't mean they showed me nothing.

"When I sat vigil at the pond, the spirits of the moon and ocean gave me a vision of the future, and a grim duty. They knew they were mortal, vulnerable, and that their time was coming to an end. They'd seen it in the tides themselves- the life the moon spirit gave to me sixteen years ago would have to be returned." 

She took a deep breath, but it was shaky, and her too-familiar tears returned. 

"If we cannot protect the moon spirit, I will have to die in order to restore it." 

Three expressions of shock and grief greeted the end of her speech. 

"No…" Sokka whispered. 

"Oh, Yue…" Katara covered her mouth with her hands, sobs of her own bubbling forth. 

"We won't let that happen!" Aang insisted. "We're almost to the oasis! No one's gonna lay a hand on that spirit!" 

\---

They'd underestimated Zhao's impulsive stupidity by a long shot. The white koi, the moon spirit's mortal form, floated, dead, in the pond, the perpetrator long fled. 

La, using Aang's power, had given chase, and the glow of the furious spirit shone from the direction of the harbor. 

Sokka realized he'd underestimated the gravity of Princess Yue's duty, too. 

"Yue, you don't have to do this." He pleaded, holding her back. 

"Yes, I do. This is my duty, Sokka." 

"Well, your duty fucking stinks!" He croaked, raising his voice too high for his ruined throat to take. "Remember what I said about shaping your own destiny?" 

"I told you, this is bigger than what I want. The fate of the whole world rests on this." She placed her hands on the floating corpse, both of their bodies glowing at the contact. "My life was always a borrowed one, anyway."

"No!" Sokka tried to pull her back once more, but she slumped in his arms, the life already bled from her body. "Damnit!"

He clutched her body tightly, tears soaking into her beautifully-embroidered coat, consumed by grief. Despite all their promises, he hadn't been able to fight the will of the spirits, after all.

The sensation of her body in his arms faded, and he clutched ever more tightly, until he was only holding his own chest, her physical form gone from the world, too. He wouldn't even be allowed to grieve? Were the spirits so cruel?

A glow spread across the pond, emanating from the white koi, swimming freely once more, and Sokka's gaze was drawn upwards. 

In the light of the water, made of a thin, drifting fog, floated the shape of Princess Yue.

"Goodbye, Sokka." She called, in a distant voice, echoing through the fog. "Thank you for all you've done for me. I always knew this day would come, but you helped make my last days the happiest in my life. I will always be with you, and you, with me." 

Her spectral hands cupped his jaw, a chilly pressure lingering there like a humid winter day, and she pressed her forehead to his, noses brushing. 

"One day, you'll find your happiness, too. The spirits' gifts are not always curses."

The barely-there sensation of her touch faded, along with the light, and the moon returned to the sky. 

Sokka sank to his knees. His chest felt tight, and it was nearly impossible to breathe. He gasped out sobs in between coughing fits, his burned throat stinging, and eventually he collapsed to the grass, unconscious. 

\---

"He's not breathing!" Katara realized with a start, rushing to her brother's side. "What happened?!" 

Zuko's uncle leaned in close, inspecting Sokka's face. "It looks as though his mouth has been burned. Was he injured in a fight before you all arrived?" 

"No, um…" Katara felt like her thoughts were scattered, panic making it difficult to hold onto any one train of thought. "No, he was breathing fire earlier. I think that's where the burns are from." 

"He was-!" The old man looked as shocked as she had felt. "That's very dangerous bending. It requires quite a bit of control to do it right. I fear your brother injured himself trying. He needs a healer immediately." 

"Oh, um, I'm a healer, I could…" She drew water from the pond, directing it to coat Sokka's neck. As it glowed, the burns on the surface faded, and he began to gasp shallow breaths. "Oh no, oh no… I don't know if I can heal him from the inside without getting water in his lungs…" 

"Is there someone else you can take him to? Someone more experienced?" 

Zuko's uncle's voice grounded her, directed her racing thoughts. "Yes. Yagoda would be able to… she should be at the healing hut. She must be healing the other warriors already." 

"Then take him to her. I must find my nephew, so I cannot help, but I wish you the best of luck." 

Katara nodded, lifting Sokka into her arms and over her shoulders. He'd gotten much bigger than her over the years, but it was far from the first time she'd had to carry him around. "Thank you for your help."

\---

Sokka awoke, disoriented, in a building he didn't recognize, with the ashen face of a worried old woman leaning over him. He cleared his throat, startled to find it was only just sore, and she visibly relaxed. 

"Oh, she got you here just in time. You're very lucky to be alive right now, young man." 

He struggled to sit up, his body feeling heavy, and she helped support him. "Katara brought me here?" The old woman nodded. "Where is she?"

"I'm here!" Katara called, sounding winded, yet relieved. "I've been helping Yagoda heal everyone while she was busy with you. How do you feel?" 

"Ugh, awful." Sokka admitted honestly. "What about you?" 

Katara shook her head. "I'm fine. Aang is, too, by the way." 

"What about Zuko?" 

She tensed. "I don't know. He disappeared during the battle. His uncle went to go find him, but I haven't seen either of them." 

Sokka nodded, pushing himself unsteadily to his feet. Katara stopped him, shoving him back into a sit. "Katara, I have to go after them. I need to make sure he's okay." 

"You've been unconscious for hours. They're long gone by now. I'm sorry, Sokka, but you need to rest." 

Hours? "What about the battle? What happened to the Fire Navy? Did we win?" 

"Yes, we won. Aang… whatever the ocean spirit did, it took out all of those ships. Every one of them. We're safe now." 

"All of them…?" A sinking feeling settled in his gut. 

"I'm sure Zuko and his uncle found some other way out. They're stubborn like that." Katara assured him. 

"No, that's not- Zuko's crew. They were reassigned, spread out on those ships. They didn't… did we take any prisoners?" 

Yagoda shook her head, confirming his suspicions. "As far as I know, there were no survivors." 

No survivors… of course, he knew they were on opposite sides of a war, and war always came with casualties, but… their skirmishes with Zuko had always been bloodless. 

Those men rescued him from nearly drowning, nursed him back to health when he'd been sick, turned a blind eye when they ran into him at the festival. He'd just run into Lieutenant Jee so recently, not knowing it would be the soldier's last days. 

"Sokka, are you okay?" 

He'd been so worried about losing Zuko, and then Yue slipped away, and now this… how many more people had to die?

"Sokka?" 

"I'm gonna go take a walk. Can I do that?" 

Katara looked to Yagoda, looking for the healer's permission. 

"You're healthy enough to go, but…" Yagoda trailed off. 

"They said you have to have a guard." Katara explained, looking guilty. 

"What?! Why?" 

Katara flinched at his shout, as though she almost expected him to spit fire at her again. He shrank back, sitting back on the sickbed. 

"Why do I need a guard?" He asked, voice carefully subdued. 

"I tried to explain to them that it was a fluke, but-" 

"The Chief insisted. We cannot allow an unaccompanied firebender to wander a city made of ice." Yagoda completed Katara's train of thought. 

"Firebender? I'm not an anything bender!" He argued. 

"Your sister told us how you received your injuries." 

"Sorry." Katara looked guilty. "She needed to know what happened so she could heal you." 

"No, it's- I don't blame you." Sokka ran a hand through his hair, surprised to find it untied. 

"When you wish to return to your rooms, I'll call you an escort. For now, I have other patients to see to." Yagoda paced off, checking on other injuries, leaving the siblings alone together. 

Sokka groaned, flopping back onto the mattress. 

"I'm sorry, Sokka." Katara murmured. 

\---

Two weeks passed while the ship to the mainland was prepared for them. In that time, Sokka hadn't been allowed to so much as stand outside the doorway without an escort. Every time Aang and Katara left for waterbending practice, he was forcibly reminded of his enforced house arrest, at least one warrior standing guard at all hours. If he tried to leave to grab something to eat, or even just to take a walk, the armed guard followed. 

When he was lucky, he got someone who was silent.

When he wasn't, he suffered pointed, barbed comments about his supposed loyalties, implications regarding his supposed relationship with the Fire Prince, or accusations about his supposed bending abilities. 

"You know they're just being careful." Katara reminded him one night, when he complained about his guard for the day keeping him from entering a restaurant with an open flame in the kitchen. Sokka had rolled his eyes, reminded the guard firebenders didn't need to use external flame, and the guard had taken it as a threat. 

"There's being careful, and then there's taking the excuse to be jerks." 

"You know you would have done the same thing if we were still home, if it had been someone else." 

He couldn't deny that. He'd tried to do the same thing when Aang had shown up. 

"Since when did you agree with what I would have done?" He grumbled.

"I'm not saying I agree with it. I know perfectly well there's no reason to doubt you. All I'm saying is… I understand where they're coming from." 

Sokka took a long look at Katara, in her brand new parka, holding her upper arm where her old one had been destroyed, and relented. 

"Yeah. I know. It's just frustrating." 

Katara rubbed his back, between his shoulders, in a familiar gesture of comfort. "I know. I get it. It won't be much longer, okay? We're just waiting for the Northern waterbenders to be ready for the journey South." She tilted her head so he could see her smile. "They're going to help rebuild our home." 

"Really?" Sokka brightened. "That's awesome! Are we gonna get a palace?" 

Katara rolled her eyes. "You are so predictable." 

"What? I'm a man of fine tastes! I want to live in luxury!" 

She pushed him, laughing. "You're awful! It's a chance to build up our home again, and all you can think about is how big your room will be!" 

"Hey, I'm just being practical!" He glanced at the door, knowing there was a guard waiting outside, and sobered. "If I'm gonna be locked away, I'd rather be trapped in a big room than a small one."

"Sokka… this isn't a forever thing. You'll be free to go wherever you want, as soon as we leave." 

"Isn't it? Our home is made of ice, too. If they're 'just being careful', what's to say it'll be any different?" 

"Because Dad trusts you, Sokka. You don't have anything to worry about." 

"Don't I?" Sokka frowned at the furs lining the floor, raking his nails through them. "Chief Arnook told me he trusts me right before the siege, and he still ordered this. Why wouldn't it be the same?" 

"Because he's our Dad, Sokka! You really think he'd do that to you?" 

"He left me behind, didn't he?" Sokka muttered. He hadn't meant to drudge up the old resentment, especially after Bato had tried to assuage his fears, but two weeks of isolation had dug open the old wound. 

"Sokka, you know that's not-" 

"I know, I know, it's just… this sucks. I can't wait to get out of here." He never thought he'd be so desperate to get away from his own people. The whole time they'd been working to reach the North Pole, he'd been looking forward to it as much as the others. Reality had been harsh. 

"Well, I've got good news for you. Master Pakku said we'll be ready to set sail in two days. So, chin up!" 

Two days. 

It wasn't soon enough. 

\---

Azula measured her steps carefully, entering the throne room with her head held high, eyes averted. She strode forward until she was the proper distance from the throne, not one step too far, and knelt precisely in the correct position, the memory of her brother missing the mark and being harshly corrected a sharp reminder of the consequences. 

"Fire Lord." She greeted. "You requested my presence."

"Iroh is a traitor, and your brother, Zuko, is a failure. I have a task for you." 

"Yes, Fire Lord. I am ever your humble servant." 

"I want you to find them and bring them to justice. You will be allowed to take whatever measures you find necessary. You will also be spearheading the effort to capture the Avatar. With Zhao's defeat, I see now that we have underestimated the threat the Avatar presents. I trust you will make no such mistakes." 

"Thank you, Fire Lord. Your faith in me will be rewarded." 

"It had better be. I have had enough of disappointment. Dismissed." 

Azula stood, measuring her steps again as she left. Not too fast, not too slow. Show the Fire Lord you respect his time, but do not rush away like a frightened weasel-mouse. The perfect pace. 

She had a great task ahead of her, and mistakes would not be tolerated. 

**END OF BOOK 1**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and thats a wrap! for now  
> im going on a brief hiatus while i get everything in order for book 2, i want to make sure i have all my plot points in order before i start  
> nothing major, something in the ball park of 2 weeks  
> BTW!!! if anyones into firebender sokka, check out this fic:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/24778834  
> its where i got the idea in the first place  
> ALSO ALSO  
> heres a fun fact my partner made sure i knew while writing: a huge proportion of fire-related deaths are actually bc smoke burns ur esophagus and the tissue swells up, asphyxiating you! so say thanks to them for their contribution!


	16. The Avatar State/The Cave of Two Lovers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im back! and at almost exactly 2 weeks man am i good at predicting myself  
> this chapter is a combination of episodes, as several chapters for this book will be! i decided to keep my naming scheme, though, so its clear where were at in the show lol   
> its a pretty long one, too! i thought the cave of two lovers would be a shorter chapter, but it ended up being a pretty good length!   
> welcome back, everyone!!! i hope you all enjoy book 2!

It was before sunrise when Sokka emerged from below deck, empty save for the night watch. He waved at them, broadcasting his presence. The crew was, thankfully, far less nervous about him wandering freely than the city guards had been, but he preferred not to take any chances. The logical part of his brain said it was probably because most people on the ship were waterbenders, headed south for the restoration, and that they let him walk freely because they knew they could overpower him. 

The hopeful part of him wanted to believe he'd earned their trust back. 

He started to stretch, preparing for a proper Kyoshi warrior-style sun salutation when the sun began to rise. It'd been too long since he'd gotten a proper workout in. 

They couldn't get away from that damn city fast enough.

\---

Despite washing up on shore on the pitiful remains of a raft, half-starved, just a few days before, Zuko had far fewer aches and pains than when he'd arrived in the Northern Water Tribe. Uncle had said the masseurs here were world-renowned and it was easy to believe. 

Still, he couldn't quite let go of all his tension. The days had ticked by and, before he'd even realized it, they'd reached the dark anniversary of his banishment. 

So soon after the weighty failure at the North Pole, the miserable occasion sat heavier than ever on his shoulders. 

Had he held on to his drive, his fervor, would he have succeeded? Had he been thinking things through, calculating his next move, like Uncle always warned him to do, would he have discovered some path to victory?

Or, following his latest betrayal, would he have been left to freeze to death in the frigid north, in the midst of a blizzard he had foolishly braved? 

He didn't react to acknowledge Uncle's approach, the old general settling comfortably near where he crouched. 

"It's the anniversary, isn't it." Uncle said, without a question in his tone, already knowing the answer. 

"I was stupid." Zuko grimaced. "I was shortsighted and impulsive, as you always warn me not to be."

"I disagree. I believe you tried to do the right thing, and that is laudable." 

Zuko buried his face in his knees, pulling them tightly to himself. "I don't even know what the right thing  _ is,  _ anymore. If I hadn't tried to keep the Avatar from Zhao, would he still have killed the moon spirit? Was it my fault all of those soldiers died? Did I sentence them all to death by giving up on my mission?" 

"Oh, Zuko…" Uncle slid a warm hand behind his shoulders, drawing him into a tight embrace. "It's difficult, confronting tragedy like this. I understand how you feel, believing just one decision could have saved everyone. It's how I felt after… after Ba Sing Se." 

Zuko scrambled for the right words, hearing the crack in Uncle's voice, but the old man continued. 

"What you must understand, Zuko, is that your actions played little part in how everything turned out. Terrible tragedies are fated to occur, and there is precious little we can do." 

Zuko huffed, hot tears spilling from his good eye. "That's not much of a comfort, Uncle." 

"I know. But it's the truth. Do you want to know what happened, at the spring? You left so soon after the spirit's demise." 

"What does that have to do with-" 

"Please. I believe it is important." Uncle drew back, holding him by the shoulders, gaze intense. Zuko nodded. 

"Tell me."

"The girl, the tribe's princess, she took the spirit's place." 

"You told me." 

"Before she did so, she said it was her duty. She knew, before she ever gave herself to the spirit, that it would be a sacrifice she would have to make. She knew the spirit would die." Uncle took a deep breath before continuing. "I know with such certainty you are not at fault, because I know the spirits had already foretold the moon's fate. You cannot blame yourself for their will." 

Uncle may have been trying to convey additional meaning with his words, but Zuko was caught by only one in particular. 

"She was willing to sacrifice anything for her duty…" He murmured. He gently pulled his uncle's hands from his shoulders, standing fully upright. "Thank you, Uncle." 

\---

Katara was yawning when she joined Sokka on deck, even though the sun was already high in the sky. He finished his cooldown stretches before making his way over to greet her. 

"Morning, Sokka. What are you doing up so early?" She squinted at him suspiciously, rubbing at her eyes. 

"This is early?" He laughed. "I've been up for hours already." 

She frowned, sleepiness disappearing, leaving her gaze sharp. Whoops. 

"That's really early, even for you. What's going on?" 

"Nothing, really! I just wanted to get a workout in, now that I don't have armed guards breathing down my neck!" Sokka explained frantically.

Katara didn't buy it. Her eyes softened into something more empathetic. "You haven't been sleeping well, either, have you?" 

It wasn't a question.

Sokka scratched the back of his head, absentmindedly noting he was due for a shave. "Not really."

"Nightmares?" She guessed, correctly. He nodded. "Aang's been having them, too." 

He sighed, leaning onto the ship's railing. She joined him, bumping their shoulders together. 

"Talk to me?" She prompted. 

He hummed, picking at his nails. "What's Aang dreaming about?" 

She frowned at him, looking ready to force him into talking, but relented. She gazed out over the sea, forlorn. "He seems really worried about the Avatar State. He's guilty about all the people he hurt back there. I wish there was something I could do, but…"

"Yeah. Avatar stuff's kinda out of our league, isn't it?" Sokka finished. 

She nodded. "What about you?" She pressed. 

He sighed. No dodging it, not when she was worried about him. "It was about… when I burned you." He admitted. "I keep having nightmares where the fire's stronger, bigger, hotter… where you can't heal yourself." 

He'd finally given up on sleeping entirely after an especially bad one, where he saw himself as the Fire Nation soldier who'd killed their mother, but Katara had taken her place. He'd woken in a cold sweat, echoes of her screams still ringing in his ears, half-expecting the cramped cabin to be ablaze.

"It's like… I know it's probably some soulmate thing, but… firebenders are monsters. I guess some part of me can't shake that away." 

Katara heaved a heavy sigh at that, clearly not expecting that kind of weight this soon after waking up. "I'm so sorry, Sokka. That seems really tough." 

They took a moment together in silence, mulling over Sokka's confession, before Katara suddenly pushed up her sleeve, revealing her upper arm. "Look. I'm okay, right? There's nothing there, no scar, not even a little redness. Touch it." 

Sokka rolled his eyes. He already knew she was healed, that wasn't the point. She grabbed his hand and forced it to her skin. 

"See? You didn't hurt me. You wouldn't. Not ever." 

The skin was smooth, unblemished. He stroked a thumb absentmindedly over the patch where the burn had been so vivid. 

"I know. I know it was fine and you're a talented healer and all that, but…" He dropped his hand, guilt still gnawing at him. "We were in the worst possible conditions for a firebender. It was the dead of night, freezing cold, and I'd never done it before. What if, next time, it's warm and sunny and I don't know how to control it? Aang hurt you, too, and he wasn't even freaking out at the time!" 

Katara rubbed her palms at the memory. "I'm still not worried. I know you, both of you, would never hurt me on purpose. I trust you. I'll always trust you. You're still my dumb big brother, after all." 

He grumbled at that. She just laughed, shoving him gently. 

"And, besides. I'm a pretty incredible waterbender already. I think I could take you on, firebending or not!" Her mischievous grin was the only warning he got before her water whip smacked him in the shoulder, drenching his tunic in the process. 

"Hey! No fair!" He whined, shoving her in retaliation. 

"What? Can't handle a little water, fire boy?" She taunted. 

"Oh, you're on! You know I won't go easy on you just because you're my little sister!" He wiggled his fingers, readying an obvious tackle stance. Water snaked from over the deck, coming to Katara's call. 

Across the deck, someone cleared their throat.

"If the two of you could put aside your rough housing for a moment, we're getting near the shore. I have some gifts to give you all before we part ways."

The suspended water splashed to the deck, spilling back into the sea. Katara bowed. "Yes, Master Pakku." 

\---

Azula's appearance was less than fortuitous. From the moment she arrived, Zuko was on edge, but he'd foolishly allowed himself to trust her words. 

_ Azula always lies.  _

How often had he repeated that mantra to himself? Yet, with a few sweet words and the barest mention of father's so-called 'regrets', he found himself blindly following her piper's song. 

Now, across the hull of her ship, brilliant blue flames licking from her fingertips, Zuko was reminded of the harsh lessons of his childhood. 

_ Azula always lies. _

"Why would Father want you home, except to lock you up where you can no longer embarrass him!" She snarled. "A deviant like you, poisoning our pristine bloodline? Ha!" 

She closed the gap, kicking out sharply, precisely, as always. He stumbled, flames hovering in his hands like daggers. 

"I can only assume your betrayal at the North Pole had something to do with your Water Tribe boy, yes?" She clicked her tongue, mocking. 

"What do you know?!" He growled back, panicked. What had she heard? Who had told her?

She barked out a laugh. "What I know could fill volumes, Brother, you'll have to be more specific." 

"Don't play dumb!"

She tossed her hair in-between swipes of fire and sharply-filed nails. "I assume you're asking how I found out about your disgusting relationship with that ice savage? It was child's play." An easy parry and a short laugh. "Quite literally. I've known since we were children. You were mooning over him like a fool. Asking Mother questions about people who lived on the ice, and 'oh won't you tell me more tales about soulmates, Mother!'"

Blinded by rage, he struck out wildly and was knocked aside with ease. She grabbed him by the wrist, holding him in place with a surprisingly strong grip. 

"You're lucky  _ I  _ thought to use Mai's little crush on you to all of our benefit. You should be thanking me, for helping to hide your  _ deviancy  _ from Father." 

She knocked him back before he could respond, putting space between them and dazing him all in one move. He was far too slow to react by the time he even realized what she was preparing to do. 

Uncle put himself between them with shocking agility, redirecting the lightning blast and sending her into the waters below. "We have to move, now!" He ordered.

Zuko followed wordlessly.

\---

For all his worrying about the Avatar State's awesome power, Aang agreed fairly readily to General Fong's proposal to use it against the Fire Lord. 

Test after test failed, though, and Aang's resolve dimmed, replaced by those worries once more. 

"I don't think I should be trying to bring on the Avatar State." He had mumbled, still half-asleep. Sokka and Katara had agreed, and now they were sat before the General once more, Aang pleading his case. 

"I can only reach the Avatar State when I'm in genuine danger." He explained. "I don't think we'll ever be able to trigger it on purpose." 

It wasn't what he wanted to say. The unmitigated destructive power was terrifying, and awful, and trying to use it as a quick way out of the war was irresponsible at best. 

But it was an explanation General Fong would actually hear out, so it was the approach they tried. 

"I see… I was afraid you'd say that." The General murmured. Aang began to offer up apologies, trying to reopen other options, when the General suddenly stood, sliding his foot along the stone floor and settling into an earthbending stance.

His heavy desk zipped across the floor, taking the airbender along with it. 

If it weren't for Aang's natural skills, he would not have survived the impact. As it was, he neatly danced away, regaining his footing lightly in the courtyard far below. 

"Aang!" Katara and Sokka shouted in unison, chasing down the zig-zagging staircase toward the startled boy. 

"Men! Attack the Avatar!" 

An entire troop's worth of earthbenders advanced, pulling stones from the earthen courtyard and sending them rocketing at the airbender. He dodged easily, flexible and agile as always, but he was horribly outnumbered. Katara, with only her small water skin to pull from, was as limited in her defense as Sokka and his club, but they rushed into the fray regardless, thinking only of rescuing their friend. 

The troop of earthbenders turned their attention to the siblings, dividing their attacks. While Sokka dodged around the edge of the courtyard, snaring an ostrich-horse, Katara dove right into the center of the fray. Almost immediately, General Fong rendered her powerless, leeching the water from her attacks into the stone at their feet. 

"What now, Avatar? Your friends are in danger! Aren't you going to help them?" General Fong called, goading Aang back into the fight. The stone beneath Katara's feet shifted, and she danced away, feeling lighter on her feet than normal. 

Aang rushed to her side, shouting. "Katara! Get out of here! They'll hurt you!" 

"No!" She argued. "They'll hurt  _ you!  _ I need to protect you!" 

The earthbenders renewed their onslaught, another wave of stone disks rolling towards them both. In unison, Aang and Katara shifted, mirroring one anothers' stances, and a cyclone spun out, knocking the disks off-course. 

"What?!" The General shouted. "She can airbend, too?! How is that possible?!" 

The troop hesitated, uncertain how to proceed, but General Fong barked an order to continue. "We're not done here! I don't see any glowing!" 

Sokka had been leading his mount around, avoiding the chaos and knocking soldiers out as he went. It was too slow, and not enough, as there were still plenty of earthbenders trying to take out the others. He'd have to get an opening on the General to make any real difference. The man's attention was entirely on Katara for now, and the warrior got into position for an attack. 

The rock shifted beneath Katara again, softening into quicksand, but she danced away once more, aided by a more purposeful blast of wind this time. 

Unfortunately, in focussing on the ground beneath her, she missed the disk flying at her head. Although Aang managed to knock it off-course, it was too late to spare her from damage, and the heavy projectile clipped her head. She crumpled to the ground, stunned, blood oozing from the abrasion. 

Aang screamed. 

"Ready to try it now, Avatar? Your friend won't make it if you don't save her!" 

At last, the man got what he wanted, the tattoos spanning Aang's body lighting that familiar, brilliant blue. He rose from the earth, propelled by a furious cyclone, the power of the Avatar unleashed at last. 

"Avatar Aang! Can you hear me?! It worked!" General Fong cheered. 

"How dare you hurt her!" The many voices of the Avatar rang out, overlapping in discordant rage. "You will pay for this!" 

He dropped to the ground, the cyclone spinning out, sending the earthbenders flying away. Their bodies were tossed to the wind, slamming into the courtyard's scattered buildings. 

After the first smattering of startled screams, the courtyard fell silent. 

Aang turned his glowing eyes to General Fong, barely having managed to escape the buffeting winds, but relented a moment later. His tattoos dimmed, the horrible power leaving him, and he fell to his knees beside Katara's still form. 

"That was almost perfect! Now that we know how to trigger it, we just have to find a way to control you! The plan can still work!" General Fong cheered. 

"No. You're out of your mind if you think I'd ever let you do something like that again." Aang snarled, teeth grinding. Katara was breathing, but unconscious, and he held her face gently between his hands. 

"Come, now! We can figure it out on the way to the Fire Nation. We have a war to win!"

Sokka finally took his chance, laying the General low with a single blow of his club. "Let's get out of here. Before these guys can do any more damage." 

\---

With nothing but the clothes on their backs, Uncle and Zuko escaped Azula's soldiers. They ducked into the thick woodland, obscuring themselves behind the blossoming trees, and ran until their lungs were burning and their steps faltered. 

"I think we're safe here." Uncle huffed, falling to his knees near a riverbed. "Those soldiers will be weighed down by their armor, and will have to regroup before they can chase us down. We can take a moment to rest before moving on." 

Zuko swallowed hard, looking out at the flowing water. Everything he'd done in the name of his country, and he'd been tossed aside for a single mistake.  _ Again.  _

"There's something else we need to do." He murmured, sliding his old knife from its sheath. 

_ Never give up without a fight.  _

He had, and now the consequences haunted them. How fitting, that the blade should function as a reminder of its own dogma. 

He brought it to the base of his tied hair, and sliced clean through, severing the last of his hair all in one go. A dishonored traitor could not wear their hair long. 

Uncle borrowed the blade after, slicing through his own topknot, allowing the hair to fall into the stream before them as Zuko did the same. 

Silence fell between them for a long moment before Uncle turned to him, gesturing for his attention. 

"Come, Nephew. Let's clean that up. We can at least let it grow back in evenly." 

Zuko obediently turned his back, allowing Uncle to scrape the knife gently along his scalp. The smooth, careful motions, the warm hand holding his head still, it was all familiar. Comforting. Zuko could almost forget the circumstances, and imagine they were still aboard their ship, Uncle carefully removing what little hair had grown back in. 

Almost, if it weren't for the croaking of frogs, the tittering of birds, and the despair settling into his heart. 

\---

The flight to Omashu should have taken two days, at most, but Aang and Katara insisted on taking frequent breaks for waterbending practice. That would have been all well and good, Sokka could hunt or fish or forage while they played around with magic water, except they were ambushed on the most recent pit stop by a group of incredibly stupid nomads.

Sure, the guys had thousands of songs detailing myths, legends, and historical events perfectly memorized, but they seemed to have no room in their empty heads for basic common sense. 

Aang, the romantic that he was, was suckered into their tales, eyes sparkling below his crown of pink blossoms as they sang about some secret tunnel built by soulmates divided by war in order to meet. 

Katara had given Sokka pointed glances through the whole thing, gauging his reactions, but was disappointed to find him stony-faced. 

"No offense, but I think we'll fly." He'd insisted, dragging Aang up into Appa's saddle. The Avatar readily agreed, citing his animal companion's hatred of small, enclosed spaces, especially underground, and the three left behind the idiotic traveling band. 

Sokka had not taken into account the increased presence of troops they'd be facing, now that the Fire Nation was more aware of their existence, sending out a proper force for their capture rather than one teenager and his pilot ship. 

Now, they had no choice but to take the damned secret tunnel. Appa complained, but still entered, the air cooling swiftly around them as they advanced. 

Despite his expectations, the Fire Nation troops did not follow them into the tunnel (the  _ labyrinth,  _ Chong had corrected), but instead opted to close them inside by collapsing the entrance. 

The tunnel- the labyrinth, rather- was dark, dank, and damp. None of that seemed particularly romantic to Sokka, despite the nomads' insistence that 'believing in love' was the key to coming out the other side without issue. 

"Do we have any torches? I can't see a thing." Sokka complained. 

"Torches? Yeah, we got torches!" Chong responded. 

A long moment passed. 

"Could you… light the torches?" Sokka prompted. 

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Uh… got any fire?"

He dug blindly in his bag for his flint. "Bring the torches closer to me. I'll light them."

"Oh, hey, cool! Are you a firebender?" Chong seemed impressed, for some reason. 

"No, I'm not." Sokka grumbled. 

"Well, technically…" Aang began. 

"I'm just going to use flint." He explained. "I need the torches to be closer to me to do that, though." 

Again, a long pause. 

"Bring me the torches, Chong." Sokka ordered.

"Oh, right! Uh, where are you? I can't see a thing!" 

Sokka smacked his forehead with his free hand, feeling a headache already growing behind his eyes. "Just follow the sound of my voice- you know what? Just keep talking, I'll find you." 

"Wohoah, hey! Can you see in the dark, too? That's pretty neat, brother!" 

The inane babbling was at least useful this time, and Sokka groped for the torch in the nomad's hands. Scraping the flint across the bladed edge of his boomerang, he coaxed tiny embers from the small stone. Most burned out before catching, but a few of the glowing lights stayed resolute. He blew gently across them, giving them life, and the torch finally lit. 

"Wow, there you go! You didn't tell us you were a firebender!" Chong's stupidly grinning face emerged from the darkness, now lit by the torch. 

Sokka pointedly ignored the idiot. "How long do these torches last? And how many do we have?" 

Lily spoke up this time, Chong still fascinated by the flickering of the flames. "Two hours each. And we have five torches, so… ten hours!" She dipped them towards the lit torch, trying to catch them alight, but Sokka kept the flames away from her reach. 

"Not if you light them all at the same time! 

…Look, I'm going to grab something to draw with, and I'll make us a map. We'll walk around and draw it as we go. We'll find the exit eventually. Just stay close and don't wander off, okay? We can't afford to get split up."

\---

As two royals in a foreign land, Zuko and Uncle were hardly suited to living off of the land, and nothing quite exemplified that like Uncle  _ poisoning himself _ with a plant he'd successfully identified as potentially deadly. 

Having to seek aid in a nearby village would set them back, giving Azula time to catch up to them. Without knowing her plans, her methods, or her current location, they couldn't afford to feel safe anywhere. 

Worse, they hadn't had time to come up with a cover story together before seeking out a healer, and Zuko sounded like a damn fool trying to invent lies on the spot. 

Despite how suspicious he was certain 'Mushi' and 'Junior' were, the sweet girl working as the healer's apprentice still offered them a meal and a place to sleep. Her eyes had darted over the scar marring his face more than once, and she seemed to be assuming several things about his past he'd rather she hadn't. 

Still, it earned them a decent meal where they had not been expecting one, while Uncle recovered from his poisoning, so he controlled his temper. Even if Song asked too many questions over the promised roast duck. 

He found it was uncomfortably easy to tell selective truths that painted them in the expected light. Despite their origins, they were actually on the wrong side of the Fire Nation quite frequently, had lost their homes to the war, and their family had been torn apart, just like the women offering them hospitality. The women were empathetic, offering kindness and gentleness. It stung, knowing the breadth of the divide between how they were being treated now, and how they'd be treated if the truth got out. 

It wasn't like they didn't deserve it, though. The terror the Fire Lord and his predecessors had spread across the known world had touched the lives of every citizen of every nation. He'd seen it first when he was ten years old, in the tears of his closest friend, sobbing into his pillow following a senseless raid on an already decimated people. 

He ate his noodles in as much silence as he was allowed, and excused himself as soon as he was finished. 

\---

"Bad news everyone." Sokka announced, glancing between his map and the wall in front of them. 

"What, another dead end? That's not really news, Sokka."

They were on their second torch now, and it was already well on its way to burning out. Three hours of wandering and drawing, evidently for nothing. 

"According to my map, we were able to pass through here before. The tunnels are changing." 

The group gasped and groaned in shock and dismay. Sokka was sure the nomads didn't actually understand what they were gasping about, but he appreciated the enthusiastic response. 

"How can we find our way out if the paths are changing?" Katara asked, doing an admirable job of keeping the panic from her voice. 

"We just gotta believe in the power of love, remember? That's what the curse says!" Chong insisted. 

"But what does that mean?" Aang questioned. "Do you think it has something to do with the ones who made it being soulmates?"

"So, what, you're saying soulmates built it, so only soulmates can make it through?" Sokka grumbled. "Hogwash."

"It's not  _ that  _ far-fetched." Katara insisted. "You know better than anyone that soulmates are real." 

"No, not  _ that.  _ I mean the curse. A shifting labyrinth maze that only lets spirit-approved couples through? I mean, how would that even work?" 

"Well, maybe it's spirit magic." Katara guessed. "What else could make the tunnels move like this?"

"Earthbenders?" Sokka reminded her. 

"You think there's earthbenders in these tunnels just screwing with people? That's the whole curse?" She had her arms crossed, hips cocked, like  _ he  _ was the unreasonable one. 

"It could happen! You've heard some of the pranks Dad pulled with Bato!" 

"There's a difference between that and a well-known legend thousands of years old!"

"That part could be made up! Aang hadn't heard of it a hundred years ago, and he was friends with Bumi then, too!"

"This  _ does  _ seem like the kind of prank Bumi would pull." Aang piped up. 

"There! You see!" Sokka waved his free hand in Aang's direction.

"Shush!" Katara hushed him, squinting past the glow of the torch. 

"Don't shush me just because I'm right!" Sokka huffed. 

"No, I mean, I hear something." 

Momo panicked, evidently hearing it too, and flew off to the safety of Appa's saddle just before the source of the noise became apparent. 

Several things happened very quickly; the appearance of the wolf-bat, the dropped torch, Appa's panic, the collapse of the tunnel ceiling, the separation of the group. 

By the time he'd even processed what had happened to them, Aang and Katara were out of reach, on the opposite side of a huge mound of rubble. 

\---

Song had pursued Zuko to the porch soon after he'd excused himself, leaving him precious little time to get his roiling thoughts in order. She sat nearby, expression pitying as she gazed at him, at his scar. 

"I know what you've been through." She claimed. "We've all been through it." 

He doubted that. He looked resolutely ahead, not acknowledging her words. 

She reached a hand out towards his face. "The Fire Nation has hurt you." 

He stopped her before she could touch the ruined skin, gripping her fingers. She pulled away without fuss. 

"They've hurt me, too." She lifted the leg of her pants, revealing a webbing of scars reaching up above her knee. The pattern… she'd stood somewhere that was burning, the flames licking up her legs. He'd seen similar injuries. "This happened when our village was attacked. I couldn't walk when we arrived here, it hurt too much. That's how I started apprenticing with the healer, you know? She took care of me until I could walk again." 

He looked away, guilt gnawing at him. His father had likely ordered the attack, or at least given the orders that led to it. Zuko had known for years what kinds of things the men did in the field, the kinds of resentments his people had bred. He'd never spoken out, never spoken against it, and so he may as well have supported it. 

Then again, the one time he'd had opportunity to speak out, and on behalf of his own people, he'd payed a hefty price. 

"How about you?" Song pressed at his silence. 

"I don't like to talk about it." He evaded honestly.

"Can you see out of it?" 

He took a deep breath, reminding himself she was just curious, she didn't have any ulterior motive. 

"Yes." It wasn't entirely a lie, but it wasn't entirely truthful, either. "The medic was very skilled. He was able to preserve my eye." 

"That's good! I hope to get that good some day. It feels so nice to help people get back on their feet, no matter what they've lost." 

She smiled, and he knew she wasn't just talking about healing. 

"We appreciate the hospitality. It was… sorely needed. Thank you." 

"Of course. What's ours is yours. We understand what you're going through, so it's no burden." 

\---

Katara watched the torch burn low and felt the pressure of their impending time limit loom. Less than an hour to find an exit or to find the others. Sokka's half of the group had the surplus torches, not to mention the flint to light them. 

"Let's try the same thing Sokka was doing, with the map." Aang suggested, seeing her gaze linger nervously on the torch. "We should at least make sure we're not going in circles." 

"Good idea." She passed the torch off, Aang taking it from her without a word, and climbed into the saddle. "I'm sure Sokka has more paper in his pack somewhere." 

She was disappointed to find it a complete disorganized mess in the bag. For all his lists and planning, her brother couldn't avoid mess to save his life. It took some digging to find anything meant for writing on, but she breathed a sigh of relief finding a tightly-bound stack of parchment inside. 

"I've got some paper!" She cheered, beginning to untie the bindings. 

As the cord fell away, something slipped between the pages, and her stomach sank. 

A panda lily, pressed flat and dried. This wasn't just some spare paper. 

She pulled apart the pages, carefully returning the pressed flower back to its intended spot, and froze. The page it was pressed into was covered in scrawled notes in her brother's messy hand. She got the distinct impression she had stumbled across something she never should have seen. 

She returned the bloom to where its impression had been left between the pages, framed by the scribbled notes and their references to a certain someone, and tied the pages back together, returning the bundle back to his bag. 

"Katara? You said you found some paper?" Aang called.

"Oh, uh… no, nevermind! It wasn't what I thought it was!" She tied Sokka's pack back closed and slid to the ground. "Um, it looks like all his spare paper was in the bag he had on him. Guess we'll have to just keep going and hope for the best!" 

"Oh, okay. That's too bad." Aang was watching her curiously, gears clicking together behind his wide, perceptive eyes, but he didn't press. 

"Come on, I'm sure we're getting close." Katara assured him. 

Rounding the next bend, she immediately believed she was proven correct. 

"Look! We found the exit!" 

Because what else could the ornate hall leading to a circular door be? 

Appa, easily the most eager to get out of the oppressive labyrinth, charged forward, knocking the door aside with his sturdy skull. Katara assumed the door was meant to be opened with earthbending, but an angry bison was as much a force to be feared. 

Strangely, no light filtered through the newly-opened entryway, and their hope vanished. 

"If this isn't the exit, what is it?" Katara murmured. She stepped forward, allowing the dwindling torchlight to illuminate the chamber. 

Along the walls of the massive, circular room were carved recesses, each with statues inside, depicting two figures in various states. They surrounded the dias in the center of the chamber, raised and supporting two twin sarcophogi, the faces on the lids matching the statues around the room. 

"It's a tomb…" Aang confirmed, voice low with solemnity. 

Leaving Appa up on the precipice, the two walked carefully down the staircase, doubling back on itself several times before reaching the tomb far below. They drew near the dias, inspecting it closely. Along the edges, carvings unworn over time depicted images and explanations for them, forming a tale. 

"It must be for the soulmates, the ones from the legend. That's who's buried here." Aang guessed. 

"And these carvings must tell the story… which one is the first?"

Aang brought the torchlight around, investigating. "Here, this one." 

"'They met on top of the mountain that divided their two villages.'" Katara read. "'Their villages were enemies, so they could not be together.'"

She continued to read, Aang following with the torchlight as she circled the platform, following the tale. The carvings told a story of love, of tragedy, and of hope. It spoke of the origin of earthbending itself, and of the origins of Omashu. At the end of the tale, the images had wrapped around the whole dias, leading to the enormous relief at the other end of the chamber. 

"'Love is brightest in the dark.'" Katara read. She gazed up at the recessed carving, the two lovers leaned over, lips together in an eternal kiss. 

Aang sighed. "None of that told us how to get out of these tunnels, though." 

Katara chewed her lip, thinking. This felt like some kind of hint. But what did it mean?

The star-crossed lovers were soulmates. That means the spirits intended their union, guided them together, potentially even gave them the nudge towards bending as a solution. Was it a spirit, then, that guided the lovers through the winding labyrinth? Sokka had always been asleep during his journeys, though, and the guidance ritual their people did required an induced sleep. 

Maybe it was something else, then. Maybe, just like the relief before them, they needed to prove their love for one another. 

"I have a crazy idea." 

"What?" Aang prompted, and she lost her nerve. 

"Nevermind, it's too crazy." 

"Katara, what is it?" Aang pressed. 

She turned away, unable to look him in the eye as she explained. "The curse says we'll be trapped in here forever unless we trust in love." 

"Right."

"And here it says 'love is brightest in the dark' and has a picture of them kissing." 

"Where are you going with this?"

"Well… what if we kissed?" They were soulmates, after all, and she had been very guilty of  _ not  _ trusting in love… until very recently. 

She'd been convinced, since Sokka had explained about himself and Zuko, that her bond with Aang was platonic, like her brother's with his own soulmate. Sokka hadn't mentioned any romantic inclinations, after all, had referred to Zuko consistently as a 'very close friend', in fact! 

But certain recent events had thrown that assumption into question. 

He'd discovered latent bending abilities, or something like that, when Zuko was in danger, had nearly killed himself trying to keep Zuko alive, had spoken to Yue about Zuko with that soft tone and that look in his eyes, one that betrayed his true feelings about the other boy. 

And then, she'd found the flower, carefully pressed and cared for, and what were unmistakably musings about Zuko and their relationship. 

She remembered her conversation with Aunt Wu, about soulmate bonds coming in many forms, the look on the fortune-teller's face when she'd insisted her brother's bond was platonic, the words she'd been offered about deciding for herself the nature of the bond, and found herself doubting the decision she'd made. 

Maybe, here and now, she needed to give in to the will of the spirits to move forward, in terms of their relationship and in the more literal sense. Maybe she needed to 'trust in love'. 

"Us, kissing?!" Aang tensed, a startled expression widening his bright eyes. 

Her resolve faltered again. Not that she'd been particularly certain on her own side of things, but she'd thought she knew where Aang stood. "See? It was a crazy idea…" She muttered. 

"Us, kissing…" Aang sounded far away, like the thoughts were churning in his head. 

Katara forced herself to laugh, like it'd been a joke all along. "Us, kissing! What was I thinking?! Can you imagine that?" 

"Yeah!" Aang's laughter sounded forced, as well. Damn, she'd made him uncomfortable… of course, who wouldn't be?! An older girl, making a proposal like that so suddenly to a young guy like him. He probably wasn't ready for romantic stuff in the first place! He probably still believed in 'girl cooties', like Sokka had at his age! "I definitely wouldn't want to kiss  _ you!"  _

She froze, the tone feeling more personal than she'd expected. "Oh. Well, I didn't realize it was such a horrible option." She took some pride in her appearance, after all, and thought that, if he'd wanted to kiss a girl at all, she'd have been a decent choice. "Sorry for suggesting it." She snapped. 

"No, no!" Aang began, defensively. "I mean, if it was a choice between kissing you and dying…"

Katara let out an offended noise. What an awful thing to say! What, she was a last resort?! 

"What? I'm saying I would rather kiss you than die! That's a compliment!" Aang frantically explained. 

Was it?! Was it, really?! "Well, I'm not sure  _ which  _ I would rather do!" 

She stormed off, returning to Appa. For her own soulmate to be so repulsed by the idea of kissing her… maybe the spirits had less of a plan and more of an awful sense of humor. As much as she hated ever admitting it, maybe Sokka was right all along. 

\---

The idiotic nomads had an endless supply of songs, and now they were making up new ones. Momo's incessant chittering and scrambling was less annoying, even proving to be a welcome reprieve from the strumming and tone-deaf vocals. 

At another dead end, Moku voiced his complaints. Apparently even these dumbasses had their limits. 

"At least  _ I'm  _ thinking of ideas and  _ trying  _ to get us out of here,  _ Moku _ !" Sokka snapped. His map was completely useless, he was running out of ink trying to fix it, and their new torch was nearly halfway burned out. Aang and Katara would be running out of light any minute. 

"Woah, woah, wait. We're thinking of ideas?" Chong sounded genuinely surprised at the concept. "'Cause I've had an idea for, like, an hour now." 

"Yes! We're all thinking of ideas!" Sokka wanted so badly to scream. Or to strangle him. Whichever came first. 

"Well, then, listen to this! If love is the key out of here, then all we have to do is sing a love song!" 

Chong sounded so incredibly proud of his incredibly inane excuse for an 'idea'. 

Sokka slapped a hand to his forehead again, that headache growing stronger. 

"No, somehow, I don't think that's the right answer." He grumbled.

The nomads began playing a new song, anyway. 

Love, love, love! Stupid soulmate labyrinth and everyone's obsession with legends! There  _ had  _ to be some kind of physical, tangible answer! Even locks and passages that needed bending to open had actual mechanisms behind them! 'Love' couldn't push tubes around, or heat inner workings into expanding, or physically move big, rocky structures, so it couldn't be the answer here! 

Sokka huffed, rubbing his forehead. The skin was beginning to grow raw, with the number of times he'd slapped it, but it still didn't detract from the pain pounding behind. 

"Fine. If we're using 'love' to get out of here, I think I've got an idea." He grumbled, sitting down in front of the pile of rubble stopping their advance. 

Chong and the others stopped playing, watching him curiously. 

"What'cha gonna do, brother?" Chong asked. 

He sighed, crossing his legs and taking a deep, calming breath. "I have a really strong connection with the spirits for some reason. If 'love' is the key out of here, maybe there's a spirit in charge of guiding soulmates that lingers around here. I'm thinking, if I can talk to them, we can get them to guide us out of here, soulmates or no soulmates." 

"Woah… why didn't you say something before?!"

"Because 'love' is a stupid key! Now, just shut up and let me concentrate!" 

For a long moment, the nomads allowed him his silence, and he evened out his breathing, trying to meditate despite his headache and the lemur sitting on his head. 

Then, before he could get into a proper state of zen, the music started back up. 

" _ Even if you're lost you can't lose the love because it's in your heart~ Oh, woah, woah-oh~"  _ Chong's tone-deaf voice cut through his focus like a sharp blade. 

"What are you doing?!" He hissed, irate. 

"Giving you some mood music! So you can find your lover!" Chong seemed way too pleased with himself considering how badly Sokka wanted him dead at the moment.

"I'm not- ugh! That's not helping, anyway, so just knock it off! I need  _ quiet _ , okay?!"

"Ohhhh, okay. Quiet, got it!"

For a moment, Sokka almost believed he understood. Then, quietly, more quietly than he believed the instrument capable of, the dramyin began to twang once more. Of fucking  _ course  _ the idiot couldn't understand the concept of 'quiet'! 

"Not! Helping!" Sokka snapped. "Quiet means quiet! Total silence! I don't want to hear your stupid  _ stringy thingy,  _ I don't want to hear her  _ pipe thingy _ , and I super don't want to hear anybody, and I mean  _ anybody  _ singing!" 

"Oh, sorry, Sokka. We'll be quiet, promise." Chong spoke for the group, as usual, and led them all a little ways away, where they stood around awkwardly, shuffling. 

It was the best he was going to get. He took a deep breath, centering himself again, and began meditating. 

It was never an easy thing for him to do, his thoughts always flinging themselves all over the place, and now was no different. He felt every rock boring into his butt with sharp clarity, every rustle of cloth as the nomads shuffled around amplified tenfold, the coldness of his fingers compared to the rest of his skin weirdly salient… getting all the buzzing thoughts out of his head was impossible, but damn if he wasn't going to try. Getting a break from Chong and crew was helping his headache, at the very least. 

The torch burned down, three-quarters of the way gone, and Sokka finally felt something shift. 

For only a moment, he thought maybe it was a spirit, finally contacting him, but it was quickly obvious it was an actual, physical shifting. The changing of the tunnels, that they had previously only noticed after the fact, was happening around them. 

Sokka was right about the earthbenders, but not in the way he'd thought. 

Two hulking badgermoles burst through the tunnel walls, bending the earth around them to instantly build new tunnels and close off old ones. With a sliding shift of their huge, clawed paws, each bigger than Sokka's whole body, they sent ripples through the stone, shaping it according to their whims. A trench formed around the startled teenager, separating him from the fleeing nomads. This was  _ not  _ what he'd been trying to summon! How the  _ hell  _ was 'love' supposed to help them out here?!

The badgermole advanced on him, pushing him back towards the fresh crevasse in the rocky floor as he scrambled away, unable to return to his feet. His hand landed on something loud, that damned dramyin, sending out an echoing twang in the cavern.

The beast halted its advance, tilting its head. Thinking quickly, Sokka grabbed the foreign instrument and began strumming, mimicking the movements Chong had been making nearly nonstop since they'd met him. The creatures responded positively, sitting back and listening to the music. 

"I think you guys might have been right about the love songs!" Sokka yelped. "Can we get one going again?" 

\---

The torch finally burned out, but Aang and Katara were no nearer the exit than they'd begun. The labyrinth was dark as pitch without the torchlight, and Appa lowed loudly, panicked. 

"I know, buddy, I know." Aang soothed, groping for his friend's muzzle in the darkness. 

"Now what can we do?" Katara despaired. "That was our only torch." 

"I guess… we could try your idea?" Aang suggested, voice strained. 

"Oh, really? It doesn't sound too disturbing for you? Finally desperate enough to stoop to that level?" Katara didn't mean to sound so accusatory, but she was still sore about it. 

"Katara… I'm sorry. All of that came out wrong, earlier. I was just… surprised! That you suggested it, you know? I didn't think you  _ wanted  _ to kiss me, you know?" 

"I hadn't really thought about it much." She admitted.

"Even though you knew we were soulmates and everything?" Aang sounded… disappointed, somehow? 

"Yeah. Even so." She found her way over to Appa, as well, stroking his muzzle. His lowing quieted, comforted by the confirmation that both of them were safe. She could tell Aang was nearby only because of the warmth that surrounded him, his airbending always keeping the air near him comfortable. 

"Soulmates can be all sorts of things to each other, you know? They don't have to be a romantic match or anything. I thought, maybe, we were like that. Now that I  _ am  _ thinking about it, though… maybe I'd like to try. Kissing you, that is." 

"So we can get out of here?" Aang was trying not to get his hopes up. Katara felt a bit guilty about that, about the timing and pressure of the situation. It was less than ideal, certainly. 

"I think, maybe, I'd like to try kissing you even if we  _ weren't  _ trapped in some kind of cursed labyrinth. If that would be okay with you?"

She was glad for the darkness. It made it very easy to avoid his eyes, to hide her blush.

"I would! I wanna kiss you a lot! All the time!" Aang blurted out, far too enthusiastically. "I mean, uh… sure?" 

Katara failed to hold back her giggles. She felt stupid for having doubted Aang's feelings. He wasn't exactly subtle about them, she knew. She touched the bauble woven from fishing line still tied to her braid. 

"Can we still kiss now, then?" Aang asked, uncertainly, his voice cracking. 

Katara nodded, before remembering the complete darkness surrounding them. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that." 

It took them some stuttered, awkward attempts to find one another without the aid of their vision, but, finally, their lips met properly. The kiss didn't feel much like fireworks, but it did feel warm and comfortable, more  _ right  _ than she'd expected, and maybe that was enough. 

The glowing feeling in her chest seemed to spread around them, and by the time she opened her eyes again, the chamber was fully illuminated. 

They gasped in unison. 

"Woah!" Aang shouted. "It really worked!" 

Gemstones embedded in the rock around them glowed with the same blue light that Aang always gave off in the Avatar State. Spiritual energy rushed forth, lighting a path forward. 

"That must be the way out!" Katara cheered. 

Appa charged forward, leaving the two of them to catch up. He was desperate to return to the open air. Aang laughed gleefully at his friend's enthusiasm, and Katara couldn't help but join in. 

\---

The badgermoles somehow knew where they were going, despite digging new tunnels the whole way, and they emerged on the other side of the mountain within minutes. Somehow, Aang and Katara had beaten them to it, Appa already rolling around and enjoying the fresh air. 

"Hey, you guys made it! How did you get out?" He called, sliding from the badgermole's shoulders. 

"It's just like the legend said! We let love lead the way!" Aang's face split in a dreamy smile, gazing over at Katara with dewy eyes. 

"It turns out the answer  _ did  _ have to do with soulmates, smart guy! So I was right!" 

"And I was right about earthbenders changing up the tunnels." Sokka pointed out. The badgermoles, now free of their passengers, returned to the mountain, bending the new exits shut behind them. "So neither of us has to admit they were maybe not entirely right about everything." 

"You know what? I'll take it." Katara giggled, giddy for some reason. 

"I'm not gonna ask any questions, but promise me you two aren't going to be all oogie all of a sudden." 

"What? No!" Katara scoffed, unconvincingly. 

"We super promise!" Aang put a hand to his heart, giving an exaggerated serious expression. 

"Great." Sokka rolled his eyes, walking off toward the rise where they would come into view of the city beyond. "Come on, let's get moving!" 

"Wait, Sokka? Why's your forehead all red?" Katara called. 

He stopped, turned to look at her, and nodded over at the retreating nomads. 

"Hey, do you think those kids noticed we're, like, super baked right now?" Chong was whispering to Lily, loud enough to be heard from their distance. 

"No way! We were being totally cool about it the whole time!" Lily whispered back, just as loud. 

Sokka's hand reacquainted with his forehead. "I think you can guess."

\---

Uncle took his time with dinner, savoring the flavors and the company. Zuko couldn't help but wonder if the old man was purposely giving him extra time with a girl his own age, trying to nudge him towards a more 'normal' relationship. He hated to assume the worst in his uncle, though, and chalked the extra time up to the old man's love of food. 

They left when he was done, despite the very late hour, and Uncle profusely thanked the women for their kindness. 

Maybe it was petty of him, a way of getting back at the girl for prying about his scar, or self-destructive, needing to somehow prove to her that he shouldn't be trusted, but he convinced himself they needed the ostrich-horse, that they could only stay out of Azula's reach if they took it, and Uncle did not argue. 

Their hosts would hate them less for this than if they'd known who they really were, anyway. 


	17. Return to Omashu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHATS UP GUYS HERES A FILLER CHAPTER sorry it has to be done

The Fire Nation had taken Omashu. They had bested Bumi and transformed his city into yet another Fire Nation colony, governed by some noble or another. With Katara's quick thinking, they managed to trick the guards into thinking there'd been an outbreak of some fictional, deadly disease, one that somehow only affected the Earth Kingdom citizens and none of the Fire Nation soldiers, and had gotten every citizen of Omashu out of the gates without incident. 

It wasn't a victory, but at least it wasn't a defeat. 

Here, miles from the city, where they'd managed to evacuate the citizens to a makeshift campsite, they thought they finally had a moment to regroup, to make sense of the wild day they'd had, but no dice; somehow, Momo had stolen a  _ baby.  _

A Fire Nation baby. 

It certainly didn't belong to any of the soldiers, which meant this baby could only belong to one person: the new Governor of Omashu.

"What do we do? His parents will be so upset he's missing!" Katara worried, gently guiding the baby away from the fire pit. 

"There's nothing we  _ can  _ do without giving away our position here." The resistance leader, Yalo, groused. "I won't risk all these people for one ash-eater baby." 

"He's more like a toddler." Aang noted. Sokka didn't really get the difference. 

"It doesn't matter. It's one of  _ them.  _ We focus on keeping our own people safe." 

Yalo seemed to think the conversation was over, stomping off to go speak with his impromptu quartermaster about their supplies. 

"That really didn't decide much of anything except that we're not going back to Omashu to give it back." Sokka pointed out. The baby had finally left poor Momo alone, and had wandered into his leg. It was now reaching its arms up, begging to be picked up. 

"Aww, how cute!" Katara cooed. "Don't worry, I'll hold you!" 

She scooped it into her arms, poking at its chubby cheeks. Its face scrunched up and it broke into sobs, making grabby hands for Sokka. 

"Uh… what's it doing that for?" Sokka tentatively reached a finger out to it, half expecting it to get bitten off. Not that the baby had very many teeth. Instead, it grabbed onto his finger with a surprisingly strong grip, giggling despite the tears and snot still caking its face. 

"Looks like he wants  _ you _ to hold him, for some reason." Katara explained, holding the baby out for him to grab. 

Sokka hesitated, but took it, holding it at arm's length. It squealed and babbled gleefully, wiggling its chubby little arms around. 

"Not like that, Sokka! You're going to drop him! Here, like this." Katara adjusted his arms, giving the baby a firm base to rest on, and a better vantage point to grab at Sokka's hair. 

"Hey! Quit it!" He grumbled, feeling his wolf-tail loosen. 

"Aww, he likes you!" Aang laughed, making absolutely no move to help. 

\---

Playing the beggar was frustrating, at best. Uncle acted like he had years of practice, like he had no pride at all, submitting to whatever debasement the cruel peasants asked of him. 

Zuko was finding it much more difficult to adapt. 

They didn't even have a goal in mind for him to focus on, now. Just days of travel and begging and scrounging for scraps. What shelter they could find was pitiful, but so infrequent that even a hay bale was as welcome as a proper bed would be. 

This time, they were passing through another farming village, and Zuko's last nerve was finally snapped. The asshole had the gall to threaten Uncle, swiping blades at his feet, and Zuko's blood boiled, singing for revenge. 

The jerk didn't even know how to use the dual blades properly, the weight uneven in his hands. 

Zuko would have to demonstrate the proper technique.

\---

The encampment sat for a late-night dinner, finally in a secure position to relax by the fires. Try as he might, Sokka couldn't shake the determined baby, who seemed to gravitate back to him no matter how far away they sent him. He'd almost thought they'd succeeded in passing the little terror off on a young mother on the other end of the camp, but the next thing they knew, a tiny body clothed in reds was tripping face-first over Sokka's club. 

That was the worst part! The baby seemed to think 'the sharper the better' in terms of the best toys to play with. Sokka had hidden his boomerang and machete after a couple of very close calls, keeping only the unbladed club on hand for protection, and still the tiny gremlin insisted on playing with  _ that!  _

(Aang, for his part, was just glad the baby had stopped terrorizing his lemur, and was outright  _ encouraging _ the dangerous toy choices.)

The whole time, Yalo glared at the baby like it had personally slaughtered his family. 

He had some harsh words to say about Katara's cooing, the girl absolutely enamored by the squishy, clumsy human stumbling around the camp, and Sokka braced for an argument that never came, their conversation interrupted by the arrival of a carrier hawk. 

Its message confirmed Sokka's suspicions, identifying the baby as 'Tom-tom', the governor's son, and requested an urgent rendezvous for a trade of prisoners: King Bumi in exchange for the baby's safe return. 

Sokka shrugged. "That's as good an opportunity as we're gonna get." 

Aang, always self-sacrificing, stood tall. "I'll go. The rest of you don't need to worry about being found out. I can move faster on my own." 

"Oh, no, you don't." Sokka's usual stern tone was definitely ruined by the baby tugging at his cheeks. He gently guided the tiny hands away. 

"The three of us will go together, like always. You'll need backup in case they don't hold up their end of the bargain." Katara reasoned. 

"The rendezvous is in the morning, anyway. Let's get some sleep." 

Aang agreed, retiring to the tents with the others. Sokka kept a close eye on him until he was sure the airbender was asleep, his makeshift turban fluttering around with his snores. 

\---

The baby was bad at sleeping. Sokka didn't really know how good babies were supposed to be at sleeping, but this one woke up every few hours to whine and cry. Katara helped as she could, but the little demon was consistently happiest when Sokka was the one singing or cooing or rocking him back to sleep. 

Dawn was nearing, and Sokka had finally given up on going back to sleep at all. Aang had remained asleep all night, or at least studiously feigned it, the traitor. At least Katara was on his side, only nodding off again once the crying had quieted. 

This last time, the crying finally stopped with Sokka wiggling his stubby little legs around and babbling nonsense. Katara murmured that the baby was probably getting hungry, as little ones ate more often, but he didn't know what babies of this size ate. Was he little enough for milk, still? Surely, he didn't have enough teeth for solid foods, yet? 

Regardless, he was distracted, for now. Katara was smiling in that faraway way she had, when her mind was elsewhere. 

"What're you thinking about?" He prompted, barely looking up from the squealing baby in his hands. The little creature was entranced by his loose hair, swiping for handfuls of it with those deceptively strong hands. 

"You ever think about kids?" She asked. 

He stilled, looking over at her. "Uh, no, not really." The baby made a grumpy noise, and he obediently resumed the wiggling.

"Really?" She seemed surprised, for some reason. "You've always been good with them, though." 

"Being forced to babysit isn't the same as being good with kids." He argued. "I dunno, I never really thought about it. Seems like not a big deal in the overall scheme of things, what with the never-ending war going on and all." 

"Well, what if there wasn't a war? Would you want to settle down and have kids then?" She was weirdly adamant about this. He eyed her suspiciously.

"Like I said, I don't know. What's with the questions?"

She shrugged, the motion overexaggerated. She was covering for something. "I dunno, just seeing you so happy, with a Fire Nation baby…" 

"Wait." Sokka's hands stilled, raising his head out of the baby's reach. "Is this about Zuko?" 

"What?! No! Psh, why would this be about Zuko?" Now that was really suspicious. 

"I- you know I'll literally  _ never  _ have babies with him, right? Like, you know that's not possible, right?" Had she somehow missed the 'where babies come from' talk? There was no way, right, not when she'd helped Gran-Gran to midwife?

"Well, you  _ could!  _ There are options!" This was such a weird line of conversation. "You could adopt, or someone could act as a surrogate mother!" 

"Katara, seriously, this is really, really weird. What are you  _ talking  _ about? Where did this come from?"

"It's just a question!" 

"Yeah, right." 

"I'm just curious! I mean, I've always wanted kids, but I like boys. I mean, I'm only interested in boys. And it's okay, you know, if you're not, you know,  _ only  _ interested in boys- I mean, girls, in your case, of course, but-" 

"Katara." 

She shrank into her shoulders, refusing to meet his eye. "I found the flower. And the- the page it was on." 

Sokka tensed. "You went through my stuff?!"

"It wasn't on purpose!" She claimed. "It was back in the labyrinth! I was looking for paper so I could do the thing you were doing, draw a map to track our progress or whatever…"

"Katara, I had the only inkwell, and neither you nor Aang can even  _ read  _ a map."

"So maybe it wasn't a good plan, okay! The point is, I accidentally found your flower poetry, and I didn't know you felt like that about him, and I don't want you to think that I'd be upset with you or anything if I knew, so-"

"It's not poetry." Sokka mumbled. 

His response seemed to throw her off. "Wh- what?" 

"On the page with the flower. It's not poetry, I was just… I dunno, getting my thoughts out onto paper." 

"Oh." 

Tom-tom was getting fussy without attention. Sokka didn't quite feel up to playing with him, so he gave the baby back the club. Suitably distracted, the baby burbled happily. 

"You know, it's not like I'm planning to settle down and start a family with him or anything." He said, finally breaking the awkward silence. 

"Why not? If you like him, like, like him like him, haven't you considered it?" 

"What, do you think I'd just be totally fine being, I dunno, a royal consort or whatever, laying in a big comfy bed eating grapes while his dad burns the world down outside?" 

"That's not what I mean and you know it!" She huffed. "I mean, don't you ever think about, like, what if things were different? What if there was no war to worry about, if nobody had to pick sides, if we didn't have to worry all the time if we're gonna live or die?" 

Sokka didn't answer. The truth was that he tried  _ not _ to think about those kinds of things. Who would they even be, without the war to shape and define them? 

"Do you think about those things?" He asked, instead. 

She looked over to where Aang still snored, back turned to them now. "I really hate that our first kiss was so forced like that. I don't know when, or even  _ if _ I would have kissed him without that kind of pressure. If the war had never happened, if we'd met under different circumstances… would we even like each other?" 

He looked between them, taking in Katara's forlorn expression, remembering how the airbender had looked at her from the very moment they met, and he had little doubt. "You know what? Somehow, I think you guys would always find each other, no matter what." 

\---

Sokka yawned widely, clumsy on the wooden ladder up to the scaffolding. Katara seemed similarly worn-out, and Aang was barely succeeding at his chipper attitude.  _ He really had been faking sleep after all, the little jerk… _

The rickety scaffolding would have been bad enough, so far over the city square, but the Fire Lord's giant, unfinished face sneered blankly over at them from up here. Even knowing how much it would hurt his knuckles, Sokka felt an urge to run over and punch that asshole, right in the oversized kisser.

Tom-tom tugged at his ear, forcing his attention back on the baby strapped to his chest. "Hey, little man, what's up?" 

The baby burbled and cooed, grasping at Sokka's face with wonder. 

"What, haven't gotten enough of my mug already?" He teased, letting the little hands grasp at his fingers, instead. 

"Come on, come on… I don't see Bumi anywhere!" Aang grumbled impatiently. Katara placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

A trio of teenagers stepped onto the scaffolding with them, all girls, their boots clicking in perfect time with one another. With measured steps, they closed the distance, remaining in perfect formation. It was eerily reminiscent of a pack of arctic wolves, and Sokka had little doubt they were just as dangerous. 

They stopped a short distance away, close enough to see eye-to-eye. The girl at the point of the formation stepped forward. "You have my brother." Her tone was even, sharp eyes flicking over to Sokka and his makeshift carrier. 

"Just like you asked. Where's King Bumi?" Aang demanded. 

Sokka barely heard them. The girl on the far right was so familiar... what was it? Something about her eyes... maybe her cheekbones?

"Just a moment, if I may?" The girl laid a hand on the sister's arm, halting her from giving a signal. Her sharp, amber eyes locked on the baby, calculating. "We're trading a two-year-old for a king. A powerful, earthbending king? That just doesn't seem quite  _ fair _ , does it?" 

The haughty, calculating tone wasn't familiar, so he was  _ sure  _ they hadn't met before, but there was still something... 

.

_ As always, Sokka found himself seated on Zuko's oversized bed. He kicked his feet over the edge, hard enough to bounce the rest of him along to his own internal rhythm. "Your hair's so long. Does it take a long time to brush it? It always takes me forever to get all of the tangles out of Katara's hair. She's always bored and doesn't want to sit still long enough for me to braid it again after."  _

_ Zuko shrugged. "I don't get it all that tangled, so it doesn't take very long for the servants to fix it."  _

_ "Ugh! You and your servants!" Sokka groaned, throwing himself backwards onto the soft comforter.  _

_ "You do your sister's hair?" Zuko asked, ponytail swishing as he tilted his head curiously.  _

_ Sokka nodded. "Yeah. It... it used to be Mom's job, but... I'm getting better at braiding, though! She's been letting me practice on her, and I'm getting pretty good at it. Have you ever had your hair braided? You have enough of it."  _

_ "We don't wear our hair in braids here."  _

_ "What, really?"  _

_ Zuko nodded.  _

_ "Everyone has braids back home! I don't, 'cause my hair's too short, but even my dad has a couple little ones." _

_ "It's too bad you can't touch me- or, I mean, touch my hair, then. You could try on me, too." Zuko's face went pink, the color starkly evident under his pale skin.  _

_ "Yeah… maybe if we get to meet in person one day, I could." Sokka suggested.  _

_ Zuko chewed his lip. "I don't think that can ever happen…" He worried.  _

_ This was getting dangerously close to Off-Limits topics. Sokka scrambled to get a handle back on the conversation. "How about you show me how people wear their hair here, instead? If people don't have braids, what do they do with their hair?"  _

_ "You really want to see?"  _

_ Sokka nodded enthusiastically. Zuko carefully unwrapped the ribbon tying up his hair, letting it fall around his shoulders. It was long and thick, and there was an obvious kink in it from being held up in the familiar style.  _

_ Zuko threaded his fingers through the dark strands, gently brushing it. His fingers caught few snags on the way down, the thick mane somehow mostly tangle-free.  _

_ "My mom always does hers like this." Zuko began, demonstrating the style. He brought up half his hair to the back of his head, holding it in a sort of bun, the other half still hanging loose. "And dad does his more like this." He demonstrated a similar style, with the hair pulled more tightly back, the bun higher.  _

_ "What about Azula?" Sokka prompted.  _

_ "Hers is kinda like… give me a second…" Zuko awkwardly teased out two strands by his face, trying to gather the rest neatly without disturbing them. "This bit should be shorter, but this is sort of the style."  _

_ Again, he'd gathered his hair into the same sort of bun. Sokka wondered why Zuko was the only one without one, but didn't ask. _

_. _

That was it! The facial similarities were too striking to be a coincidence, and she still wore her topknot in that distinctive fashion. 

"Azula?" Sokka yelped, interrupting her plotting with an accusatory finger. 

She clicked her tongue, looking him over. "You will address me with my proper title, peasant." She insisted, sneering. 

"You know her?" Aang muttered. 

"Zuko's little sister. Don't underestimate her." He warned. 

"I see my reputation precedes me. And who are  _ you  _ supposed to- oh." The fury flashing behind her eyes slid suddenly into amusement. "Oh, you must be Zuzu's exotic little  _ pet _ ." 

Sokka grit his teeth, willing himself not to rise to the bait. Her eyes flicked to Aang, instead. 

"Which means you must be…" 

With a flick of her wrist, a blue flame burst forth, igniting the makeshift turban. Aang frantically tried to pat out the rapidly-spreading flames, dislodging the fabric from its precarious perch and revealing the incriminating tattoo. 

"The Avatar. Well, well. This  _ is _ my lucky day." Azula purred. "I think you've just given us a  _ much  _ more equitable trade. How about it? The Avatar in exchange for the King?" 

This wouldn't end well. "Don't do it, Aang." Sokka hissed, knowing the Avatar would ignore him. 

Sure enough, Aang stepped forward, offering himself to her. Tom-tom's sister raised a hand, beckoning to the crane high above them. With a loud grinding, a metal coffin began to lower, Bumi's cackling face the only part of him visible. 

Azula motioned to the third girl, clothed all in pink, and she bounded forward with a sharp jab. Aang, nimble as always, just barely dodged, dancing backwards. Another jab, and he twirled around her, snapping open his glider and taking to the skies. 

The girl in pink pouted as he flew up to Bumi, Azula hot on his heels. "Azula's gonna be mad at me for that…" She muttered under her breath. 

Katara flicked open the pouch of water at her hip, sending the contents whipping out toward Azula's retreating form, but as quickly as she readied her stance, it dropped, the girl in pink very suddenly behind her. The water now refused to obey her call, and Katara's expression was vulnerable with fear.

"You'll give me my brother back." The sister demanded, tone betraying no emotion, brandishing several knives seemingly produced from thin air.

Azula's friends… this must be Mai, the one who used to have a crush on Zuko. 

"Sorry, Mai, no can do!" Sokka quipped, dodging the thrown blades with a quick roll, Tom-tom clutched close to his chest. If he could use the baby as a distraction, he could at least stop the trio from ganging up on Aang. 

He ran, putting distance between himself and the others, blowing on the bison whistle. 

"Oh, oh! Do you know me, too?" The girl in pink chirped, practically teleporting behind him. 

Chipper, acrobatic, and fond of pink. "Ty lee, right?" 

She cheered, clapping. "That's right! Mai, did you hear that? Zuko talks about us!" 

"Ty lee, focus." Mai snapped. "Get Tom-tom."

"Oh, right!" With quick movements, she jabbed Sokka in several sensitive areas, leaving behind an awful numbness. He reached for his club- well, he tried to, anyway, but his arms were unresponsive. 

"Uh? Huh?" He intoned, at a loss for words in his absolute shock. 

Ty lee untied the fabric forming the little carrier, scooping the baby into her arms. "Come on, little guy! Back to big sis!" 

Tom-tom was furious, wailing and stretching out, grabbing for Sokka. 

Mai was distracted only momentarily from her fight with Katara, the waterbender now defenseless and forced into only dodging, to look at her baby brother. "What's his deal?" 

"I dunno. He seems upset." Ty lee pouted, trying to soothe the screaming child. 

"Ugh, just get out of here with him! Get him back to my mom!" Her voice finally betrayed some emotion, a slight note of frustration. 

Ty lee dashed off obediently, clutching Tom-tom close to her chest. 

Finally, their desperate defense was cut short, Appa's familiar lowing announcing the bison's arrival. He touched town, shaking the rickety scaffolding dangerously, and knocked Mai off balance with a sweep of his wide tail. 

"Finally! Great to see you, buddy!" Sokka greeted, climbing into the saddle quickly. "Katara, let's go!" 

Aang had escaped through the town with Bumi, Azula hot on his heels, and it was time to bail them out.

\---

Really, was it truly  _ stealing _ if they were entitled to these things to begin with? The mask, similar enough to the one he'd lost when Zhao destroyed his ship and everything on it, protected his identity. The blades, familiar in shape and weight, if far cheaper and plainer than he was used to, suited his purpose for both destruction and intimidation.

Soon, he and Uncle were no longer starving, and Uncle no longer felt the need to stoop to such lows again, placating obnoxious peasants and their inflated egos. 

Things weren't quite right, but Zuko's skin no longer crawled with barely-repressed fire, so perhaps it was enough. 

\---

When the dust settled, Bumi was still captive, the citizens of Omashu were officially refugees, and the baby had been safely returned home. All in all, it was a sour victory. 

"Who were those girls?" Katara asked, leaning out of Appa's saddle as though she'd be able to see them following. 

"Zuko's sister and her friends. They all went to the same fancy private school together." Sokka explained. 

"If she's Zuko's sister, maybe we can get through to her!" Aang's optimism was as predictable as it was misplaced. 

Sokka crossed his arms, frowning deeply. "She's nothing like him. She was Daddy's favorite, and you  _ know  _ what their dad's like. She's ruthless and cruel. We're in way more danger with her after us than we ever were running from Zuko." 

"You sure you're not just saying that because you've got a big old soft spot for him?" Katara teased. 

Sokka was unamused. "I'm sure. You should hear some of the 'pranks' she used to pull on him." 

"Pranks? We pulled pranks on each other all the time, and you don't go around telling people  _ I'm  _ evil." Katara pointed out.

"She once set his bed on fire. With him in it. Claimed she saw a hawk wasp."

"I wouldn't really call that a prank." 

"That's why I did the finger quotes!" Sokka huffed. "She's bad news, trust me. Our best bet is to go back to laying low. We'll find a new earthbending teacher for Aang, and keep an ear to the ground in the meantime. Okay?"

He still didn't think they were the right amount worried, but their expressions were serious now, at least. 

He tried not to think of the stories Zuko had told him, usually while curled up into his knees and crying, and failed. 

\---

Uncle was less than pleased with their newfound bounty, becoming suspicious of its origins. Zuko had been careful to keep the mask and blades well-hidden, but he'd admittedly gone a bit overboard this time. Uncle had just seemed so pleased with the fresh pastries he'd managed to snag the last time, yet all their tea still tasted like dirt coming from his shabby clay teapot. 

Not that Zuko was a tea connoisseur, by any means, but it seemed grittier and more bitter than Uncle's usual brew lately. 

Seeing the old man reject his gifts ached, and he took a walk to distance himself, the speech Uncle had given him swirling in his thoughts. 

\---

While the swamp had been frustrating at best (Aang had really forgotten he was the damn Avatar, trying to get  _ Sokka  _ to commune with the spirit of the forest or whatever), the town that they ended up in after was downright infuriating. Had they simply faced an impossible trial against an unjust system for a crime committed hundreds of years in the past, that would be one thing, but they had lost all of their supplies!  _ Again!  _

Katara had gone out of their way to grab her stupid waterbending scrolls, when he knew damn well she'd been inventing her own techniques recently, and Aang had even gone  _ to  _ the supplies for his glider, but had left everything where it lay! Their cookware, spare clothing, fishing pole… all abandoned in some random clearing they'd never find again, especially not after the day they'd had in town between facing 'justice' and the Rough Rhinos. 

His pack had had that stupid flower in it, too! He felt like an idiot, taking such care with it now, recalling how frequently their supplies took a hit. 

At least Boomerang had come back… it was a small consolation, in the scheme of things. 

\---

Zuko's long walk took him deep into the forest, as far away from Uncle as he could comfortably get without worrying about finding his way back. He considered Uncle's words about honor and hope, remembering the similar speech Sokka had given him on Kyoshi Island several months before. Come to think of it, the island should be near where they were now, right? They'd traveled directly south for time enough. Had what he'd done to that island been worth it, or had it been a mistake? Knowing that, should he even somehow, miraculously, succeed at his abandoned mission, he would still be unlikely to find the welcome he desperately desired back home, could he justify the lengths he'd gone to thus far? 

Coming upon a wide clearing, his inner turmoil only grew worse. 

There was clear evidence of a recent battle, scorch marks and debris littering the area, and several untouched packs sitting near the stump in the middle. 

Were this the work of simple bandits, the supplies here would have been scavenged. Seeing them completely untouched, but with signs of a struggle, pointed directly to something bigger. 

The packs were of a familiar blue fabric, complete with tribal patterns beaded and embroidered into them. How many Water Tribesmen were wandering around the Earth Kingdom right now, let alone those who would be ambushed by assailants targeting them and not their supplies? The Avatar had been here, and recently, too. 

Was this a test from the spirits? Should he choose to ignore the bait, to allow his father's greatest, final threat to go freely? Accept his new lot in life as a refugee, start a new life somewhere, as Sokka had suggested? 

Or was it a gift? A lead, a thread, for him to grasp tightly to?  _ Never give up without a fight. _ He had, and he'd faced the consequences. Despite his insistence that they abandon their desperate chase after the Avatar, Uncle had told him of the girl, and her unshakeable devotion to her duty, to her people. The Avatar was his destiny, and he was no good to his people hiding here in a foreign land, exiled. 

He could not allow Uncle to hold him back any longer, through inaction or through sabotage. 

He had to resume his search. 

It was the only hope left to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> struggled w this one and im sorry its not very good but it was several canon-compliant episodes in a row so i did what i could w them   
> also in case anyones wondering- yes tom tom is enamored w sokka bc he has the most sharp things and his knife loving big sister is his favorite


	18. The Blind Bandit/Zuko Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> smashed these two together bc theyre mostly canon compliant like the last one  
> kind of short chapter but the chase is gonna be long as HELL with what ive got planned for it so   
> a lil treat here before we get back into the zukka babey

"I'm afraid we'll have to cut today's lesson short, Miss Beifong." Master Pansy Britches informed her at the beginning of the day's 'lesson'. "I've got a special class today to recruit some new students, and I need to get there early. Let's just run through your basic forms for today."

Like he ever let Toph do more than that, anyway. 

She settled into the first stance of the kata he called for, feeling the earth practically tingle in response to her movements. It was good practice, these stupid fakey lessons, in keeping tight, delicate control. Pretending to be weak and pitiful was frustrating, but too large of movements or too loud of sounds would always panic the guards, and then she wouldn't be allowed to bend or walk around freely for the whole next  _ week _ .

Master Pansy Britches stepped over to her, 'correcting' her stance. "Ah, ah, ah, Toph. Your stance is too narrow. You should hold your hands  _ here."  _

The adjustment felt incredibly wrong, her chi out of sync with the earth below. Guess today was a practice on  _ less than optimal  _ conditions, then. She almost spat in frustration. Usually, he was too wrapped up in whatever 'lecture' he had for the day to notice the discrepancy. 

"From the top!" 

\---

The Avatar's supply pack was heavy, but it was worth it to take it all along. They had to be feeling the loss of all this equipment; there was practically a full kitchen's worth of cast iron cookware, a week's worth of preserved foodstuffs, a well-stocked sewing kit, a real fishing rod… 

There was something curious, though. As Zuko took stock of the pilfered supplies, he came across a tightly-bound stack of parchment. At first, he brushed it off as calligraphy supplies, just some extra paper, but he soon found an inkwell bundled with several blank scrolls, in some sort of leathery bag. It had to have some special significance, then. Perhaps a journal, of sorts? It would make sense the Avatar would be keeping track of his journey… 

Zuko couldn't bring himself to pry. It wasn't a necessary supply, so he refused to go out of his way to disturb it.

The bountiful supplies did tell him one thing, though: The Avatar and his friends would have to pass through some sort of town, one with a fairly active marketplace, in order to replace all of this. That meant witnesses. That meant leads.

\---

"Toph, we're going to be entertaining an important guest soon. There's a very big business deal we're trying to solidify, and the meeting needs to go well. Do you understand?" 

"Yes, Father." Toph replied with mocking deference. "I'll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending I don't exist!" 

"Toph… sweetheart." She felt her father kneel before her, vibrations running through the stone floors as his knee made impact, to get on eye-level with her. Pointless, really. "This is for your own good. Your mother and I won't be able to look after you like we usually do if we're focussed on our guest." The guards did all the 'looking after'. Who did he think he was kidding? "This deal needs to go well so you can keep living in the comfort you've had this whole time." One business deal wouldn't make or break this family, not with the number of pies her father had his fingers in. "It'll only be for a few hours, so please be patient for me. Can you do that, princess?" 

"Yes, Father. Of course." She grit out, teeth grinding.

"Good, good. Well, then, off you go." He stood, turning to a guard. "Lead her to her room." He commanded. Typical.

The guard stood watch outside her door, like normal, expecting her to wait patiently inside. Her father's overprotective retinue of overpaid guards were the bane of her existence. Surely, they could slack off once in a while, chitchat on the job while failing to keep their posts, something like that? 

Then again, if her father ever caught them, he'd accuse them of  _ endangering  _ his 'poor, helpless, tiny, fragile' daughter. Ugh. 

Luckily, Toph had just the solution to her impending boredom. 

Padding over to the center of the floor, she focussed deep beneath the earth, feeling for the familiar network of tunnels she'd left behind. Some parts connected to natural structures, to a cavern system and aqueduct beneath the city, and others connected to manmade areas, like the old catacombs and some wine cellars. For the most part, she'd excavated deeply enough your average earthbender would never be able to find them, so they remained her own special getaway. 

She shifted a foot across the stone floor, crumbling it quietly into sand. Leaving behind the outermost layer of her respectable outfit, she slid down the newly-formed slide, far down into the tunnels below, effectively ruining the undergarments. 

Well, who would notice another set of clothes gone missing? What with the vast wardrobe her parents had heaped upon her, fancy gifts from all of their constant traveling, shallow replacements for a real connection, there were plenty of replacements.

So, maybe she ruined outfits on purpose sometimes. Who could say.

She re-solidified the earth above her as her feet made firm contact with the subterranean tunnels. With luck, the guard wasn't listening too closely to their blind charge's activity, and wouldn't notice she had gone for some time. 

Here, enveloped in a comforting cocoon of her element, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Her posture slackened, she cracked her joints, and she spat into a corner, just for good measure. Already, she felt like herself again. Just for icing on the proverbial cake, she recovered the clothing she'd stowed away here, an outfit 'unbecoming of a lady', but one that allowed her to move more freely. 

Now, where to go?

\---

The nearest village had certainly seen the Avatar move through recently, still loudly cheering about his escapades. Apparently, they'd just repurposed a centuries-old tradition of condemning the Avatar's past lives into a celebration lauding him. 

It took little effort to find someone to point him in the right direction, and he'd headed off. 

Unfortunately, the settlements on the extreme south of the Earth Kingdom were fairly sparse, leaving a lot of room to get lost in between. 

The supplies included no bedrolls, the sleeping bags having been apparently burned in the skirmish, or tents, so Zuko found himself pushing both himself and the ostrich-horse further than either could take. After nearly falling off his mount and being forced to rest out in the open for the third time, Zuko was forced to admit he was fully lost. 

Seeing no sign of either civilization or a flying bison for days, Zuko felt his resolve waver. He was coming upon a mountain range now, an enormous fork in the nebulous road, and needed to make a firm choice with minimal information. 

Would they have gone around the mountains to the north? That way was the Si Wong desert, Uncle had informed him, and had advised they avoid it. The Avatar was always in the most dangerous places, often for the most unfathomable reasons, so it stood to reason they may have flown that way. 

Or, would they have remained southward? It would be safer, surely, and they did need to resupply. But were there any markets this way? All he knew was there were no Fire Nation colonies this far out, and there was no map in the Avatar's supplies. 

That settled it, he supposed. Even if they had resupplied south of the mountains, they would eventually have to head northward once more. It would be easier to spot the bison in the relatively unobstructed air of the desert, rather than the lush forests near the coast. 

With a goal decided, Zuko's mind quieted, and he fell into a restless slumber against the ostrich-horse's broad side. 

\---

The day of the tournament, the guards were especially antsy. Several of them had wanted to attend, and were throwing themselves extra hard into their duties, as though to make the time more 'worth it'. 

All it meant to Toph was that by the time she was able to slip away, she was already late. 

As the defending champion, she only had one match to fight, but that didn't mean she hadn't been pumped to check out the rest of the competition. A gutsy battle, debris flying everywhere, blood and sweat and broken teeth, it was enough to get her blood pumping for days afterward, no matter how many boring etiquette lessons she had to sit for. 

As it stood, she was rushing to throw her fighting outfit on, ripping a seam of her more lady-like outfit in her haste to get it off, and barely managed to catch the last fight, when The Boulder faced off against some nobody who's main attack strategy was being nowhere near the ground. Sure, it would have been a decent strategy if he'd managed to make it all the way to the championship match, but he never would have made it, leaving himself with huge openings and predictable trajectories. Not to mention his habit of taking rocks with him as he swung about, which gave away his location to The Blind Bandit's keen earth-sense regardless. 

Xin Fu seemed relieved to see her, letting out a heavy sigh when she suddenly appeared out of the solid wall behind him. "Thank the spirits. I thought I'd have to improvise on the final match." 

"Don't get your panties in a twist, big guy. You know I like to make an entrance." She grinned, in that way her mother always tutted about, calling it 'unseemly' or even 'unsettling'. No mother here to 'correct' her facial expressions, though, and the tournament organizer didn't much care about the way she carried herself. She appreciated that about him, even if he was a slimy cheat sometimes. 

"Just be ready to get out there. I'm announcing you now." He grumbled. 

She stood by as he hyped up the crowd, her blood singing, calling ripples in the earth with a wiggle of her fingers just because she could.

Show time. 

\---

The sun was high in the sky by the time Zuko stumbled across a shabby little desert village. Living on the rations from the Avatar's pack was better than nothing, but the food was horribly salty, and the mystery meat tough and chewy. Despite being down to his last copper pieces, he held out hope of getting something decent to eat. 

As luck would have it, he did get a decent meal out of the pit stop, but not quite in the way he had imagined. It came in the form of an enthusiastic little boy, named Lee, who had a father who kindly fielded questions on his behalf and a mother who cooked hearty meals. 

Lee's father, Gansu, had recruited Zuko for construction, and he'd readily agreed, feeling the need to return the favor for the meal. He was more a hindrance than a help in the end, frustratingly, damaging supplies and injuring himself. 

"Why don't you get back inside? I'll take care of the rest of this myself." Gansu shooed him off as politely as he was capable, prying out the damaged nails Zuko had left behind. 

"But I want to be helpful." A part of him needed to use this opportunity to make up for what he'd done to Song and her mother, even if the ostrich-horse he'd stolen had saved his and Uncle's lives. He'd seen, in his days of wandering uselessly, how the people here struggled, just as surely as he and Uncle had been, regardless of whether they had a roof over their heads or not. 

"Maybe there's something you can do for Sela, then. I can't watch you hurt yourself and feel good about that." 

Zuko nodded, giving Gansu a shallow bow, and headed inside to find Sela. 

She sat near a pile of fabric, needle poised in her hand, carefully mending the garment in her hands. 

"Uhh, Gansu said I should check with you, see if there's anything I could do." 

She looked up, pausing mid-stitch, and cracked a smile. "Roof proved too much for you?" 

He held up his hand, the bruised thumb already an angry red, and the smile fell from her face. 

"Oh, dear. You know, you can just rest. We understand you're weary. It's no burden." 

The reflection of the words Song had left him with stung. "No, no. I want to help." 

"Well, then. Do you know how to sew?" 

He nodded, sitting near her. "Um, I'm mostly trained with embroidery, but I think I could help you mend."

She raised her eyebrows, a question in her eyes, but she held back. Once again, these people seemed reluctant to ask even the most basic questions. He wondered what sort of visitors they usually got, and further wondered how much of this was due to his scar. 

He was offered a needle and a threadbare garment, and he began to work, watching Sela's technique and mimicking it with dexterity. Soon, he fell into a comfortable repetition, the needle moving rhythmically. He couldn't help but recall the old days, sitting in his chamber's study, working on an elaborate tapestry. Azula had always hated her embroidery lessons, working herself up into frustration until she finally set her work ablaze, and Zuko had offered to take over the work. 

The tutor immediately became suspicious when the work returned to her was neater and less singed than normal, and the secret came out. Zuko confessed he'd really enjoyed the exercise, and was enrolled in lessons. Azula, on the other hand, was not forced to learn the frivolous skill any longer, as soon as their father had learned of the events, and was instead enrolled in military history earlier than planned. 

Mom had been proud of his new skill, cooing over every tapestry he embroidered, regardless of how the results actually looked. She said she loved how much work he put in, how evident his passion was. She kept them safe, displaying them where his father would not get irritated by them. 

Dad hated the embroidery. 

He counted it among Zuko's other useless skills, just another mark of failure against the young prince. He had no knack for history, or strategy, or bending, but instead found himself easily picking up worthless skills. The embroidery, the swordplay, and worst of all, the playwriting. His father held nothing but disdain for everything that came easily to Zuko. 

He'd often worried he'd never pick up a skill his father would approve of. Now, having seen more of the man's true colors, he wondered if his father held disdain for the activities  _ because  _ Zuko was good at them. 

Lost in his thoughts, the sewing was finished quickly enough to surprise Sela, who expressed wonder at the diminished pile beside her when the light grew too dim to sew by. 

"It would have taken me days to get through all of this! You really are a big help!"

"It was nothing." He argued. If it came easily to someone like him, how hard could it be?

\---

Fucking Twinkle Toes and his fucking weird bending! The boy was so light on his feet, barely connecting with the earth, she had trouble getting a solid grip on his location, and then he knocked aside her attacks  _ without earthbending!  _

There had been no impact when she was pushed out of the ring,  _ her  _ playground, just a massive breeze that knocked her off her feet! What a cheap trick, not even using  _ earthbending  _ for an  _ earthbending tournament!  _ Not that she could figure out what he  _ did  _ use. Something was really, really weird here. 

Furious, she returned home, throwing on her fancy clothes and calming herself just enough to make herself presentable before emerging on the estate grounds. 

A panicked guard, heart pattering in his chest like a jackalope, practically melted with relief at her appearance. "Oh, Lady Toph, there you are! We were looking everywhere for you!" 

It must be so  _ inconvenient  _ to be hindered by little things like walls and dense shrubbery. She could tell where every guard on the estate was before she'd even opened up the earth to climb out. 

"Was I hidden?" She asked with faux innocence. "I can't see where all these bushes are!" 

She'd specifically chosen to emerge in a ring of thick bushes, ones she'd moved into formation using the very earth their roots were entrenched in days ago to ensure a secreted entrance and exit. 

"We will have to have a word with the gardeners, my Lady. We were terribly worried about you!" 

Not only had she  _ lost  _ her championship belt to Fancy Feet, she now had to face even tighter restrictions on her movement about the grounds. She bit back her frustration, feeling her face pinch into a grimace, schooling it back into its relaxed, neutral position. 

Back to life as usual. Ugh.

\---

The kid was being punished for brandishing the very knife Zuko had given him. It had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, wanting the boy not to be left defenseless, and yet it had been his downfall. 

Zuko's kindness always,  _ always  _ backfired. What was he doing wrong?!

This was Zuko's responsibility and, therefore, Zuko's battle. He returned to the dusty farming village, furious as much with himself as with the Earth Kingdom soldier bullies. He left his ostrich-horse out of the way, and approached the soldiers. 

Most of them were ill-equipped, ill-trained, and cowardly. Only the ringleader, the earthbender, posed any real threat, using his twin sledgehammers to facilitate his bending rather than as weapons. 

He was all that stood between Zuko and fixing his mistake. That was a dangerous place to be. 

The cowering villagers cheered for him, shouting encouragements. They were tired of these bullies, jubilant to see them taken down a peg.

Zuko was tired, too. Tired of being on the defensive, tired of hiding his natural talents to protect his identity, tired of letting arrogant assholes walk all over him. No more.

_ No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are.  _

His mother's parting words ringing in his ears, chi surging through his veins, he sent flames licking down his blades, a whirlwind of fire dancing out and knocking back that earthbending jerk. 

A gasp rang from the gathered civilians. Of course they were shocked. He couldn't find it in him to care. 

The cheap blades couldn't take much of this, the metal growing hot and brittle under the dancing flames, but he didn't need much more to win the fight. Unprepared for facing a decent firebender, the soldier was sent flying, crashing into a rickety building and collapsing under the weighty rubble. 

There were no cheers for his victory. 

Smoke still trailing from the dual blades, Zuko announced himself to the crowd. "My name is Zuko, son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai, Prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne." 

_ Never forget who you are. _

Despite his mother's words, he had forgotten. Not now, not hiding his identity, on the run. He'd forgotten it a long time ago. 

When he had lost her comfort, her guidance, he had been left to the cruel whims of his father, newly crowned. The kindness and gentleness he'd had as a child had been fully crushed under the Fire Lord's thumb. For all his mother had done to nurture his better nature, he had quickly thrown it aside in favor of being the Prince his father had wanted.

He'd paid a hefty price for  _ remembering _ , and it had hardened him further. 

His mother had wanted him to remember who he really was, deep down, not as a Prince, but as a person. 

He was someone who defended the innocent, no matter how powerful the tormentors were. 

He was someone who performed kindness, no matter how callous the recipient could be. 

He was overly passionate, and impatient, and clumsy, but he did not waver from his commitment to the right thing. 

His father had hated that. His father had hated  _ him.  _ He was done. The man his father wanted him to become was cruel, and manipulative, and shallow. 

He refused. 

The villagers heckled him, chasing him from the village. Sela mistrusted him, standing between the prince and her son, willing to stake her life on his defense. Lee shouted at him, refusing to take the gift Zuko offered.

No matter the penalty, he would not regret choosing kindness. 

\---

Twinkle Toes had barged into her home, demanded she teach him earthbending, made a scene at dinner, and then,  _ then _ , he'd gotten them both kidnapped! This kid was  _ seriously  _ bad luck! 

Sure, the fight against the entire tournament lineup, including Xin Fu, had been  _ exhilarating  _ in a way she'd never felt before, but the battle had revealed her most carefully-kept secret to her father; she'd been disobeying him for years. 

He was furious with her, believing her to be reckless rather than capable, and locked her in her room with extra guards posted outside. 

Twinkle Toes left, taking his girlfriend and The Boulder's Biggest Fan along with him, and Toph felt more alone than ever before. 

The offer they'd made her played in her mind. Traveling the world? Teaching earthbending to a willing student, one who really believed she was the best of the best? It was too good to be true. Even having seen how bad their luck could be, how easily they'd taken the events of the evening in stride, she couldn't help but yearn for that freedom. 

Maybe… maybe she  _ could  _ have it? She was here, in her room, feet to the stone. Why couldn't she just  _ take  _ the freedom she wanted? The guards would panic, sure, and her parents would be upset, but didn't they  _ deserve  _ to be a little upset, considering what they'd done?

She crumbled the ground, slipping into her network of tunnels, the escape familiar, yet somehow it felt different this time. After all, she had no intentions of returning. 

Her fancy clothes discarded, she sprinted her way to where she felt the bison perched on a hill, the Twinkle Toes Trio standing around it. 

They were shocked to see her, but they didn't send her back. 

They had been completely serious about taking her along, after all. 

Boarding the bison, she was concerned to find her environment a bit  _ fuzzy  _ for her liking, for lack of a better term. Where the bison made contact with the ground, she could get a vague sense of where things were, but it was still unsettling to be so unclear. 

They hadn't warned her the damn thing  _ flew. _

The world disappeared. Further and further from solid ground, from her senses, from her power, they flew off into the night. 

It was terrifying. 

It was freeing.

The Boulder's Biggest Fan sympathetically gripped her arm, grounding her as best he could. "Hey, you doing okay?" 

She nodded, fingers tight around the bison's saddle. "Never better." 

She was surprised to find it wasn't as sarcastic as she'd intended. Once her stomach settled, she found herself feeling  _ light _ , for lack of a better term. Maybe this was why Twinkle Toes moved the way he did, spending so much time in the air. 

No burdens, no rules, a world of endless possibility before them? 

This was the best decision she'd ever made.


	19. The Chase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alt title: zuko has a therapy session w wang fire, psy.d.

Despite having a new team member, setting up camp actually went  _ slower  _ than usual. 

They'd bought new camping supplies in Gaoling, so for the first time in months, they had an actual tent to set up. Aang focussed on figuring that out, Sokka readied the new bedrolls, and Katara… 

Well, Katara spent the whole time arguing with Toph instead of helping. Because Toph wasn't helping. So, instead of four people setting up their new, expanded campsite, there were just the two. 

The sun had fully set by the time Aang and Sokka had managed to finish unloading Appa and setting up the site, Katara really only gathering water before stomping off to argue with Toph some more, and Sokka had never been quite so eager to get into bed. He was out like a fire in a storm in minutes, snoring happily into his brand-new sleeping bag. 

His dreams began back home, as they often did. He dreamed of an all-consuming flame, devouring their village and chasing them out. He, Aang, and Katara escaped the blaze on Momo, a tiny Appa curled into Aang's arms, while Toph sat at the lemur's head and steered. 

The flames chased them clear across the land, the Earth Kingdom below them curling and snapping like a burning map. Screams followed them, familiar voices of those they'd left behind in their journey. Suki's village burned, the Kyoshi warriors shouting for help. Jet's hideout burned, the Freedom Fighters leaping to the boughs of the trees and becoming trapped there. The Northern Air Temple burned, Teo watching alongside his father as the mountain crumbled beneath them, crying out for the Avatar's aid. 

But they continued to fly, escaping the fires and saving only themselves. 

Finally, they reached the Northern Water Tribe, where they were greeted with hostile spears. The fires burned behind them, devouring the ocean, leaping high into the sky, burning the very moon itself. Yue's face, ethereal and glowing, twisted into a grimace, flames consuming her as she screamed, until suddenly, in an instant, the nightmare ended. 

Sokka found himself in the shallow Earth Kingdom crater they'd stopped to camp in, empty save for the fire pit crackling in the center, silent save for the rumble of approaching hoofsteps. 

He turned to greet the spirit, its familiar golden fur glowing in the moonlight. 

"Hey, buddy." 

He could scarcely believe it. Heart still hammering in his chest from the hectic terror of the nightmare, he could barely align his thoughts to comprehend just what he was seeing here. 

He was seeing Jin Lu without being dragged into the spirit world, without meditating at a special spring, just… in his dreams. Like it used to be. 

Like it hadn't been in three years.

The spirit turned away, walking into the forest, barely stopping to check if Sokka was going to follow. Almost without thinking, his feet began to move, carrying him in a daze behind the retreating spirit. 

The land beneath them shifted, as always, bringing them across the mountains in an instant. Just on the other side, so close they could fly over on Appa in less than an hour, Zuko lay, curled under a makeshift lean-to. 

The prince looked up as he approached, meeting his eyes.

"Hey." Sokka said, a little breathless. 

Zuko's eyes widened. "Sokka? What are you- is this a dream?" 

Sokka huffed out a short chuckle. "Yeah, I think it is. It's been a while, hasn't it?" 

"Yeah, it really has been." Zuko sighed, running a hand through his short-cropped hair. Or would it be more accurate to say 'short-grown'?

"You cut your hair." Sokka said, lamely. 

Zuko froze, turning his eyes away. "Yeah, uh… Uncle and I were declared traitors to the Fire Nation after what happened at the North Pole." 

"Oh." Sokka felt like an idiot for mentioning it, now. The tribes had a similar tradition; if a warrior disgraced himself or the tribe, his wolftail would be severed. He shouldn't have asked. "I'm sorry, I-"

"It's for the best, I think." Zuko buried his face in his knees, huddling into himself as he often did when he was overwhelmed. "I don't think I like the person I was becoming." 

\---

When Toph announced the arrival of some sort of not-avalanche, Katara tried and failed to shake Sokka awake. 

"It's okay, I'll get him into the saddle! Just get the supplies up on Appa!" Aang called out, rolling up the sleeping bags to toss them up quickly. 

"What if something's wrong? He's usually such a light sleeper!" Katara worried.

"He's fine." Toph declared with finality.

"How can you be so sure?" Katara snapped. 

"I can feel his breathing and heartbeat through the earth." She explained. "He's just asleep. Nothing to worry about." 

"Maybe he's just tired! I know I am." Aang shrugged, hefting Sokka's bigger body into his grip and propelling them both into the saddle. "Get the tent taken down and let's go!"

\---

Sokka sat beside Zuko, resolutely not looking at him until the other boy emerged from hiding in his own knees. 

"So, did something happen?" He asked. Zuko glanced over at him, resting his cheek on his knees instead. "I don't see Jin Lu in my dreams for years and then suddenly he shows up tonight out of nowhere." 

Zuko shrugged. "Nothing special, I don't think." 

Sokka hummed. "When I talked to him, that time I got taken to the spirit world by the panda monster, he told me- well, he doesn't talk, so I guess it's more like he showed me- anyway, basically the gist was that he couldn't help us meet up like this because of some spiritual turmoil or something. So I was thinking maybe, I dunno, you settled something with yourself. Or something like that."

"That's really vague." Zuko critiqued. He looked away, considering. "I'm not sure. I've been feeling more conflicted than ever, to be honest." 

"Like how?" Sokka prompted. 

He shrugged again, not meeting Sokka's gaze. "Like… Uncle and I were traveling as fugitives, trying to keep away from Azula so she didn't kill us, or drag us back to the Fire Nation in chains, or whatever even worse things she could think of…" 

Sokka grimaced. "Yikes." 

"Yeah. I tried to make things better for us both, by… uh, by just sort of stealing the things we needed?" He flushed, scratching his neck. "I was angry about being thrown out, and Uncle was hungry, and I just sort of… didn't care anymore. But then I saw how much these people are struggling, because of the war, because of my father's orders, and I just… my family's already stolen enough from them." 

Sokka hummed. "So you felt guilty about it?" 

Zuko hid his face again. "Actually, I just got mad at Uncle when he tried to make me feel guilty about it." He groaned, shaking his head. "I was such a jerk to him!" 

Sokka stifled a laugh. "That sounds about right, though." 

Zuko shot a glare at him, then deflated. "I can't even argue with that. I've been a jerk to you, too." He turned to gaze out at the flat, dry expanse before them, the barren landscape reaching out into the desert beyond. "I found the supplies you left behind, in that clearing." 

Sokka felt heat rise in his face and yelped. "You have our stuff?! Did you, uh… did you… find… anything?" He chanced a glance over at the other boy and relaxed at his confused expression. "The, uh, the bound-up papers." 

"Oh. Yes, I found them." 

"Did you, uh, see what was inside?" 

"I didn't go through them." 

Sokka sighed with relief. He wasn't sure he could bear the embarrassment. "Good, good… so, uh, you have our stuff! That's good! I mean, frustrating, since we just had to buy new stuff again, but at least I  _ know  _ who it ended up with. I actually thought the Rough Rhinos had stolen that stuff. They did steal my boomerang." 

"That sucks. You love that thing." 

"It's all good, we got it back." 

Zuko seemed like he wanted to say more, and Sokka leaned over to nudge him. Feeling only that weirdly cold, tingling sensation where there should have been contact, he retreated. "So, you found the supplies." He prompted. Zuko had brought it up for a reason, hadn't he? 

"Yeah…" He picked at his pants, embarrassed. The dull browns and greens looked weird on him. "I thought maybe it was a sign from the spirits. Like, they were showing me you guys were nearby, and I could catch up… it was stupid and impulsive."

"Hang on, you were planning on hunting us down again?" Sokka scoffed, frustrated. "I thought you were done with that!" 

Zuko curled tighter into himself. "I was! I'd already decided to give up. I guess I just… second-guessed myself… I miss home. I miss having a place to sleep every night and food to eat when I'm hungry and not feeling quite so worthless." 

"Oh." Sokka could understand that. Their brief respites from all the fighting and running and sleeping under the stars were scattered at best, and he often missed the comfort of a warm igloo and a frozen tundra outside. "You can't miss everything about it, though. Like your dad. You can't miss your dad, right?" 

Zuko swallowed. "Sometimes… I do." He admitted. 

Sokka wanted to scream. He bit his tongue, letting Zuko finish. 

"I know he's hurt me, and bullied me into doing what he wants, into  _ being  _ what he wants, and I know he couldn't give less of a shit about me, but… he's my dad, you know?" 

This is where the argument always began. Sokka felt fire boiling beneath his skin, and knew it only wasn't literal because of their location. He would always scream until he was blue in the face, trying desperately to force Zuko to see he had worth, regardless of what that asshole said, and that he didn't deserve any of what was done to him. 

But Zuko was here, now. The spirit had brought them together again. Something had shifted. 

He took a deep breath, and let Zuko continue. 

"Sometimes, it feels… wrong. Having people care about me, having nice things done for me. I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop. The nice things, the gifts, the kind words, they always preceded something  _ awful.  _ I think that's why I stole those things… Like I wanted to force the other shoe to drop, so I could expect it when it came." 

Sokka wanted to wrap him into a tight embrace. He would have settled for being able to squeeze his hand, just enough pressure to let him know  _ I'm here. _ He was forced to sit, and to wait, and to let Zuko spill his scattered thoughts into the dusty air. 

"I tried to repay a family's kindness with kindness, and it backfired. The other shoe dropped. The boy was attacked and kidnapped, and the whole village threw me out when they found out who I was. They hated me." A shaky breath. "I should have been expecting it." 

"No." Sokka growled before he could stop himself. "You should never,  _ never  _ expect it. Zuko, you…" He pressed his palms to his eyes, feeling the gathering tears there, and forced himself to keep it together. "You deserve to have good things, no strings attached, no catch. You're  _ worth  _ that." 

Zuko nodded into his knees, ruffling the short hair right at his hairline. The way it stuck out in all directions as he lifted his head was oddly endearing. 

The look in his eyes was vulnerable as he finally made eye contact with Sokka once more. 

"I don't want to let my father decide who I am anymore. He doesn't get to decide my destiny. He doesn't get to decide my  _ worth _ ." 

\---

"Toph, can you help us unload?" Katara called out to the earthbender as she wandered off to make a new rock tent. 

Aang had deemed the new campsite far enough away from the advancing tank to be safe and Katara wanted to take full advantage of their potentially limited time. 

"So I'm pulling Snoozles' weight, now?" She griped. 

Sokka  _ still  _ hadn't been woken up, despite repeated attempts over the two hours that they flew. Aang used his airbending to gently lower the older boy to the ground, and they abandoned the attempts in favor of setting the camp up quickly. 

Katara sighed. She'd really felt like she was making progress getting Toph to integrate into the group, and now this. "Yes, Toph. We're all part of a team here. I don't know what's wrong with him, but we're down an extra set of hands." 

"Could you set us up an extra rock tent?" Aang suggested. "If I don't have to get the tent put up, I can get the bedrolls ready!" 

"Forget it. Not my problem." Toph waved a hand, throwing slabs of rock up with a precise motion. 

"Oh-kay, then…" Aang returned to unloading by himself, tiptoeing away from the tense situation. 

"How can you be so selfish?!" Katara shrieked. "My brother is practically comatose right now, and you don't give a damn!"

"No, I don't!" Toph spat, narrowly missing Katara's boots. "He's the one being selfish, getting a good night's sleep over there while we're all being kept up so late! Seriously, I'll let you know if something's actually wrong with him, and right now? He's. Just. Sleeping." 

A third slab of rock shot up, obscuring the earthbender from view. Katara was narrowly suppressing the urge to pull all her hair out. 

"Let's just do what we can. We never had a tent before, so we can just go without. It's not cold enough to need a fire, and the moon's pretty bright! We'll just roll out the bedrolls and get to sleeping. Okay?" 

Katara hated when Aang sounded reasonable when she wanted to fume. She dragged her brother's unconscious body to his sleeping bag, depositing him on top of it and collapsing into her own. 

The earth tent opened with a sharp rumble. "That thing is back!"

\---

"We ran into Azula in Omashu." Sokka abruptly offered, breaking the heavy silence that had settled over them both. "Mai's dad is in charge of the city, now. Did you know Mai has a baby brother?" 

Zuko shook his head. "She never told me…" 

"Oh, he's, like, a baby-baby. I think probably he wasn't born yet the last time you… anyway, Momo kidnapped him and Azula ran into us while we were trading him back." 

"Who's Momo?" 

"Oh, the, uh… the lemur."

"Your lemur kidnapped a baby?" 

"It wasn't on purpose. I don't think." Sokka frowned, thinking of Momo's huge, weirdly intelligent eyes. "He does look like he  _ knows things,  _ though, so I wouldn't put it past him." 

Zuko almost laughed, covering his mouth with his hand to hide the quirk of his lips. 

"Ty Lee was really excited that I knew who she was." 

"That sounds like her."

"Zuko…" He hated to bring the tone back down when Zuko was finally relaxing, but he had to know. "They… all three of them. They knew who I was." He set his jaw, remembering Azula's words. "Azula called me your 'exotic pet'." 

A familiar anger flared in Zuko's eyes. "Then she really held back. When she attacked me and Uncle, she called you way worse." 

"Oh?"

"It doesn't bear repeating." 

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Is it any worse than what  _ you've  _ called me?" He grumbled. 

Zuko flinched. Good. "I'm sorry."

"You'd better be." 

"I have… a lot to apologize for, now." 

"You do." Sokka felt petty, saying it when he already knew he'd forgive him. 

Zuko stood, stepping forward to face Sokka head-on. With great solemnity, he sank to his knees, one at a time, with deliberate motions. Finally, he lowered his head to the dry earth, pressing his forehead between his flat palms, bowing as low as he could go. 

"Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe." He began. He was really going all the way with this, wasn't he? "I, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, hereby petition for your forgiveness. Whatever you may require of me in proof of repentance, I will acquiesce." 

Sokka whistled. "So formal, Your Highness." 

Zuko peeked over his fingers just enough to glare. "I'm being serious." 

"Hmm, then… I accept your apology on one condition." Sokka raised a finger, pausing for dramatic effect. Zuko waited patiently, still kowtowing, "You never try to kill or kidnap me or any of my friends again. Then we'll call it even."

"You know what you're asking of me when you say that." Zuko slumped, sitting back on his feet. 

Sokka nodded.

Zuko took a deep breath, as though he was centering himself. "I promise."

\---

Aang led Appa high into the mountains, finding a solid plateau wide enough for the bison to safely land. Appa collapsed as soon as his paws touched solid rock, tipping his passengers haphazardly from the saddle. 

Katara practically flung herself at Sokka, softening the fall as they crashed. Still, he remained unconscious. 

"Forget setting up camp, let's just try to get to sleep." Aang groaned. 

"Who would even be chasing us?" Toph asked, sinking into her pack as a makeshift pillow. 

"It could be Zuko." Katara offered. "We haven't seen him since the North Pole."

"Who's Zuko?" Toph asked. 

"He's the Prince of the Fire Nation. He's been tracking us all around the world to try to get to Aang." Katara explained. 

"He's Sokka's soulmate!" Aang added. 

Toph snorted. "You guys believe in soulmates?" 

Katara let out a noise, offended. "Of course we do! Soulmates are an important part of our cultures, you know!"

"They meet up in their dreams sometimes. The spirits lead them to each other." 

"Riiight." Toph's sarcastic tone sounded like she was rolling her eyes. Katara didn't check, suddenly struck by an awful realization. 

"Aang, you don't think…" 

Aang seemed to follow, eyes widening. "He's probably having one of those spirit dreams right now!" 

"Which means Zuko could be using the spirits to follow us." Katara finished the thought. "That's how we're being followed." 

"So, how do we stop it?" Toph asked, ever practical. "Can we wake him up somehow?" 

"As far as I know, his spirit leaves his body when he dreams like this, and a body without a spirit can't wake up." Aang explained. 

"If we can't wake him up, then we have to leave him behind. If he's not with us, they can't use him to track us." Toph suggested, picking at her ear with a pinky as though she'd suggested something completely obvious. 

"No! We're not leaving my brother!" Katara snapped. 

"Why not? He's just dragging us down at this point!" 

Aang hesitantly lifted a hand. "Toph has a point, actually."

"What?!" Katara shrieked, whirling on him.

"I'm just saying, it's an option! We can always come back for him, later!" 

"I can't  _ believe  _ you two! We are  _ not  _ abandoning my brother!" 

"Katara, listen! If Zuko's chasing us, and he finds Sokka without us, it's not like he's gonna hurt him, remember? Last time, he even called a truce just to get him back to us!" 

Katara had to cede that point. Even when Zuko had accidentally captured Sokka, he nursed him back to health. He'd used Sokka to track them once before, and had thrown himself into danger to stop any harm coming to him. If Zuko was chasing them, Sokka wouldn't be in any more danger with him than with them. "But what if we're wrong? What if it's not Zuko?"

"Then they'll chase us instead of finding him. We'll leave him somewhere out of the way, and lead Appa the other way." 

"Decide fast, I can feel the tank catching up." Toph warned them, hand to the ground. 

Katara took a deep breath, glancing at Sokka's still form, and nodded. "Okay."

\---

"You're sure? You're really gonna give up the chase?" 

Zuko rolled his eyes, sitting back more comfortably. "What, you  _ want  _ me to keep chasing you down?"

"No, but… it's a big decision. I really, really want you to do the right thing, but…" 

Zuko sighed, considering his words. "I… I used to think that it was a lost cause. That if I didn't capture the Avatar, nothing would change. My father would eventually take down the Earth Kingdom, the war would be resolved with a decisive Fire Nation victory, and that I needed to restore my place in the line of succession if I was going to one day pick up the pieces." 

"That's a shitty attitude." 

"Yeah, it was. I see, now, that it'll never end that cleanly. The people of the Earth Kingdom are stubborn. They're willful, and resourceful, and they won't just bend to my father's will. Even if he were to take Ba Sing Se, the people would revolt, again and again, until there were no people  _ left  _ to revolt."

Sokka snorted, remembering his own futile stand against the Fire Nation warship. "Down to the last man, right?"

"Exactly. Your people are much the same. Adaptable and fearsome. My grandfather thought he would have the Southern Tribes if he just took out all the benders, but that never even slowed you down."

"It just made us more willing to fight. Dad would have never joined the Earth Kingdom's navy if Mom hadn't been killed. We'd always stayed away from the front lines."

Zuko nodded. "I can't rightly help my people continue down this path to destruction. Nobody wins if my father gets his way."

Sokka sighed with relief. "Finally, we're on the same page." 

Zuko cracked a smile. 

"Will you help us, then? To defeat the Fire Lord and end the war? Aang still needs a firebending teacher, you know." Sokka asked, hopeful.

Zuko's smile fell. "I… Not yet. I don't think I can… I don't want him to win, but… I don't think I can help fight against him."

_ Not yet,  _ he had said.  _ Not yet.  _

\---

Aang took Sokka to an abandoned town, just at the end of the mountain range. They'd covered more ground tonight than they usually covered in three days, and everyone was as unsteady on their feet as Appa was in the air. 

Still, this diversion would buy them some time, at least. If Zuko followed Sokka here, Appa would have time to rest before they were followed again. 

It was a gamble, for sure, and one that sat poorly with the pacifistic airbender. It wasn't  _ really  _ a sacrifice, but it sure felt like one. 

"Sorry, buddy…" He murmured, setting the older boy down gently in one of the more sturdy-looking buildings. 

It would have to do.

\---

Iroh had followed Zuko closely, tracking his movements across the barren landscape, and had been shocked to see the Jin Lu cross his path early in the evening. The spirit had rushed past, directly to where he knew Zuko had retired for the night, too tired to continue onward. 

Curious, he drew closer, hoping to catch a glimpse of the interaction that would follow. He'd never had the pleasure of witnessing a dream journey firsthand and, although it was maybe a bit of an invasion of his dear nephew's privacy, he couldn't pass up the chance. 

Unfortunately, that was not what he found at Zuko's little campsite. 

The lean-to was still there, as was the ostrich-horse, but Zuko was not. Deep tracks, those left by a Fire Nation steam tank, led past the campsite and beyond, disappearing into the mountains. From the lean-to to the tracks, there was a shallow groove, like a body had been dragged through the dirt. 

This could only mean trouble. 

Iroh gently woke the slumbering beast, coaxing it to its feet. "We must ride, my friend. I fear my nephew is in danger." 

\---

"Wow, he's really conked out, isn't he?" Ty Lee chirped, peeking through the bars of the on-board cell. Zuko lay within, still unconscious despite being dragged into the vehicle, locked into a fully metallic cell, and jostled around as the tank climbed directly up the side of a mountain. "Shouldn't you, like, handcuff him or something, though?" 

Azula laughed, haughty as usual. "I don't think we need to worry about little Zuzu. His bending has always been pitiful, and it was worse than ever last I saw him. Just ignore him. We have a bigger catch waiting for us." 

Ty Lee knew better than to argue, but gave Zuko one last look before she followed them. It was hubris, surely, to take such a big risk with him. The Prince may not have been quite so skilled as Azula, but he'd always been tenacious enough to make up for it. 

Well, not her circus, not her clowns! 

She skipped up the stairs after the others, using the braces and supports to spin her way up and over half of them. Sticking the landing, naturally, she danced over to where Azula was taking her place in the commander's chair. 

"Give me an update." She barked at the engineer. 

"Yes, Your Highness. The trail continues to that settlement there, then suddenly diverts to the south again. We believe the Avatar is attempting to obscure his path." 

Azula hummed. "Well, then. I will go ahead to the settlement. Ty Lee, Mai, continue following the gross fur path. We'll reconvene here, later." 

Ty Lee matched Mai's deep bow, intoning the expected, "Yes, Princess," in unison. They both exited the room, heading towards the stable car for their reptilian mounts. 

"I expect your trip to be fruitful, ladies." Azula called after them, voice sweet with malice.

"Yes, Princess." They repeated. 

\---

Sooner than Sokka would have liked, Jin Lu reappeared. 

"Guess it's time to go, huh?" Sokka stood, brushing himself off. "Maybe we'll see each other again soon, yeah?" 

"I hope so. I missed you." Zuko's voice bled with sincerity. Sokka's heart fluttered weirdly in his chest, his face heating up.

"Yeah, I, uh, I really missed you, too. Missed this. Um…" He clicked his tongue, jamming his thumb in the direction he'd originally come from. "See ya!" 

He started off, but the deer was heading in a different direction, further along the mountain range, rather than across it. 

"Uh, what? Where're you going, buddy?" 

The spirit stopped, looked over its shoulder, and continued. 

"Ohh-kay…" Distantly, he recalled Aang's spiritual journeys, the monk's body waiting for its spirit to return. Up at the North Pole, there had been that weird little light that traveled across the sky when they caught up to him, his spirit returning from where it had left. "Wait, did those jerks move my body?!" 

He scrambled to correct his trajectory, dashing after Jin Lu. As he caught up, the spirit paused again, looking behind them. 

"Uh, what's it doing?" Zuko asked nervously. 

"I dunno. What's up?" 

Jin Lu, still making eye contact with Zuko, nodded its great head slowly, indicating the direction it was traveling. 

"Does it… want me to come with you?" Zuko stood slowly, hesitant. 

The slow nod shook the leaves sprouting from the ringed antlers, producing a familiar rustling.

"Guess so." 

Zuko jogged to catch up, face still open with wonder. 

\---

Appa crashed into the earth near a wide stream, snoring before he hit the ground. With a well-timed gust, Aang broke their fall, mitigating the potential damage to their supplies and their bodies. 

"We'll rest here for as long as we can. We should have put enough distance between us now." Aang's yawn interrupted his announcement. 

"We can only hope." Katara murmured. They'd sacrificed Sokka for this plan, so it had better be a good one. She unrolled her sleeping bag and settled in, feeling exhaustion liquefy her bones. 

"'M sorry, Katara…" Aang murmured sleepily, sinking into Appa's soft fur. "Promise Sokka'll be safe." 

The three all slipped into sleep quickly and easily, but it was not fated to last. 

"Guys…" Toph groaned. "Bad news." 

Katara nearly screamed, pulling at her hair. "What?! That damn tank again?!" 

"Not the tank, but there's something coming. Feels like some kind of big lizards." 

Aang groaned, practically sobbing with frustration. "No! Please, let us sleep!" 

"Come on, Appa…" Katara coaxed. The bison lowed. "We have to get moving again." 

Before they had time to get Appa airborne, two mongoose-lizards burst from the treeline, bearing two familiar faces. 

"Ah! Azula's friends!" Aang shouted, pointing. 

Appa groaned, fear shaking him awake, and stood. 

"Azula?" Toph asked. "How many people are trying to kill you guys, exactly?" 

"That's not the point! Let's get moving, now!" Katara shouted, scrambling into the saddle with her sleeping bag half-folded under her arm. 

"I just think it's maybe something I should have been warned about when I signed on, you know?!" Toph groaned, letting Aang help her up. She settled beside Katara, clinging to the saddle with tight knuckles, as Aang guided his bison into the air. 

"Yip yip!"

Katara watched the mongoose-lizards grow smaller beneath them, still following their trail. 

"How are they following us, if they're not using Snoozles?" Toph asked. 

Aang glanced behind them and realized something they should have hours ago. "Appa's shedding… we're leaving behind a trail of bison fur everywhere we go!"

Katara swore she was about to snort smoke from her nostrils without being able to firebend. "You mean to tell me… we left my brother behind… with a crazy firebender chasing us… for absolutely  _ no reason?!"  _

Toph actually looked guilty. "I didn't notice the shedding. I wouldn't have suggested it if I did." 

"And I supported the idea." Aang reminded her. "Don't get mad at Toph." 

"Oh, I'm mad at you, too! You'd better be going after him right away!" 

"I will, I promise!" 

" _ Now, Aang!"  _ She could feel her teeth screaming against one another as she ground her jaw tightly, barely reigning in her fury. 

Aang handed over the reins, allowing Katara to guide the bison, and snapped open his glider. "I'll be back soon! He'll be fine, I promise!"

"He'd better be. There'll be hell to pay if he's not!" 

\---

Jin Lu led them along some very suspicious tracks, dug deep into the earth, and past a very surprised Uncle Iroh, astride an ostrich-horse. At a dangerous looking vehicle, all metal and spikes and steam, Zuko flashed out of existence, leaving Sokka alone with their guide. 

"He's in there?" 

Jin Lu did not stop, leading Sokka further on, following a set of clawed tracks disturbing the dry earth. Azula, astride a mongoose-lizard, determination in her dim amber eyes, raced in the same direction. Loose clumps of white fur dotted the landscape, fluttering lazily in the barely-extant breeze. 

Still, the spirit guided Sokka further. They approached an abandoned settlement, most of the buildings collapsing in on themselves, and there, Sokka found his destination. 

With a start, he awoke, struggling to get his bearings despite having a vague idea where he'd ended up. The structure he was in seemed relatively sound, but he was alone, with no pack, far away from anything or anyone, with Azula heading directly towards him. 

What was Zuko doing in that tank? He'd said Azula was trying to capture them for treason, hadn't he? Clearly, her mount's tracks led from the tank, so it must be hers. 

Zuko had to have been captured. 

Sokka still didn't know where he was or why he was here, but he  _ did  _ know that he needed to get Zuko out of that tank, and quickly. 

He sprinted off, feeling incredibly well-rested considering he spent the entire night with his spirit outside his body, and dashed in the direction he remembered Azula being in as he arrived.

He had nothing but the boomerang on his back, and she was the firebender prodigy princess. What could go wrong?

\---

Zuko awoke, bruised and sore, in a dark cell. The tank had to belong to Azula, he was certain of it. 

He tested the bars. Sturdy, high heat tolerance. Pretty standard, as these things went. Still, his only chance at escape was  _ through.  _ He drew on his chi, igniting his hands. 

A short burst of flame fizzled out from his fingertips. 

That was… unexpected. He wasn't a competent firebender at the best of times, but a six-year-old could produce a more impressive flame than that. What gives?

He tried again, focussing on building up the rage in his gut. He felt fury at having been tossed in a cell like chattel, at himself for letting his guard down, at Azula for what she'd put them through… was it Azula who had captured him? It would make the most sense, wouldn't it? She'd apparently begun a more lightweight operation, traveling with Mai and Ty Lee rather than the expected contingent of royal guards. The Avatar had been through here, and she was chasing him down, as well. Based on the pattern of the tracks, nabbing Zuko had merely been  _ on the way,  _ while this tank stalked more important prey.

Fuming over the thought of Azula tossing him in a cell without even pausing her pursuit of what was originally meant to be  _ his  _ prize, Zuko tried to summon flame once more.

A larger burst of flame stuttered forth, about as much as he could reliably produce at age ten.

It was no use. He still had that floaty feeling in his gut, the one that lingered every time he had a positive interaction with Sokka. It was stupid, and pitiful, and certain choice words from Azula and their father came to mind, and he did his best to stamp it out.  _ Longing  _ wouldn't make him a stronger bender, and he  _ needed  _ that strength to escape now. 

\---

Azula had not been expecting to fight the peasant boy, not all alone on the road, armed with only some primitive projectile. It was beneath her to be challenged in this way!

She was  _ certainly  _ not expecting the tribal boy to  _ firebend  _ at her. 

Really, could it even be  _ called  _ 'firebending', the way he did it? He set the weapon ablaze, flinging it through the air, leaving a bright orange trail streaking behind it. It was an insult to the art, in fact, and she would have to put an end to this debasement immediately. 

Unfortunately, the fact that he  _ clearly  _ lacked formal training was a point in his favor, as she was utterly unable to predict his movements or strikes. Weak blasts of fire came at just the right intervals to keep her unbalanced, dodging flame and steel alike. 

It seemed that, despite his shortcomings as a bender, he had plenty of skill as a strategist. She would have to reevaluate her opinion of him. 

He took the first opportunity to steal her mount and race it back to the tank, dodging her retaliatory fire with a frustrating zig-zagging motion. 

This was  _ not  _ a good day. 

\---

Sokka wasn't sure how he'd summoned that much fire with Zuko so far away, but he wouldn't look a gift ostrich-horse in the mouth! The tank wasn't too far away, and he burst his way through the nearest set of doors. 

Beyond them, the cell took up the full wall. Zuko, hands gripping the red-hot bars, blinked at him in surprise. 

"I'm busting you out!" Sokka announced, hopping off the reptile and launching himself at the bars. "Yeowch, that's hot!" 

Zuko snorted, watching him suck his now-red fingers. "I've been trying to melt them since I woke up here. No luck." 

Sokka grinned. "Well, maybe you just needed a little extra boost! We're stronger together, remember?" 

Replacing his hands, more carefully this time, Sokka synchronized his breathing with Zuko's, stirring the chi in both of their guts, building the heat between them. Focussed wholly on Zuko, on the wrinkle of concentration between his eyebrow and the scarred skin where the other should have been, on the licks of flame escaping his teeth, on the simultaneous rise and fall of both of their chests, he nearly missed the melting of the cell bars. 

Zuko was free.

"Yeah!" Sokka whooped victoriously. 

"I can't believe that worked…" Zuko murmured, staring at his palms. 

Sokka scratched his head sheepishly. "I saw Katara and Aang do some cool synchronized airbending stuff a while back. I figured maybe we could do that too. Well, uh, you know, with fire, not air. We can't airbend. How wild would that be, though!"

"Sokka." Zuko warned. "You're rambling." 

"Oh! Right. We should get out of here before-"

"Before what, peasant? Before the Princess notices you and the traitor destroying her property?" Azula snarled, announcing her presence. 

"Yes, actually." Sokka admitted, before grabbing Zuko by the wrist and tugging him along. "Bye, now!" 

They sped past the pissed-off Princess, Zuko narrowly deflecting her brilliant blue fire blasts as they ran, Sokka leading them back to the abandoned town, with its numerous hiding places and impromptu weapons options. 

"Let's get out of here!" 

\---

Aang angled his glider in a sharp dive, speeding his way back to where he'd sequestered his friend. Several indistinct shapes rushed about, taking form as he approached. 

A dark-dressed figure, sending wave after wave of blue flame after the others. A figure dressed in browns and greens, sending the flames away with orange blasts of his own. The third, dressed in blue, led the charge, practically dragging the second along, and ducking into the nearest structure. 

"Azula!" Aang called before her face became distinct. There could be no mistake, regardless. "It's me you're after! Let them go!" 

"The Avatar?!" She cried in confusion, pausing long enough to let Sokka hide away with Zuko. He landed before her, closing the glider and holding up his hands. "Don't tell me you're just giving yourself up, now." 

"Nope." He whipped the glider in a wide arc, sending out a sharp burst of air, forcing her to flip back and away from it to maintain her footing. 

"I'm so disappointed in my dear brother. Here I thought maybe he could be persuaded to see reason, but now I see he's a traitor, through and through." Azula tutted. "Truly a pity. Well, now that I have only the one cell, I suppose I have to make a choice. Your little friend destroyed my other one. Tell me, were you aware he was a firebender?" 

"Yes." Aang was far too tired to put up with her mind games. 

She huffed. "Well, then. I see you have no qualms about splitting your loyalties, Avatar." 

"I'll be friends with anyone who wants peace. I don't care where they're from or what element they bend." He hoped Zuko heard him, from wherever Sokka had taken him. 

"And if I tell you that all  _ I  _ want is peace?" Azula asked, twirling her hair around a thin finger, her nails like talons. 

"I wouldn't believe you." Aang glanced behind her. He'd stalled long enough. Katara and Toph had taken places behind her, along with Zuko's uncle. 

Azula whipped around fear flashing in her eyes only momentarily. She turned back to Aang. He heard footsteps behind him, and hoped it was his allies, rather than hers. 

"Stand down, Azula." Zuko's raspy voice called out. Aang breathed a sigh of relief. He and his allies had her surrounded. 

She raised her hands above her head, dropping out of her battle stance. "I know when I'm beaten. A princess surrenders with honor." 

Aang wondered what they were going to do with her, for a moment. Would they send her away, and trust her to keep her word? Zuko would have, if it'd been him, but Sokka had warned them the siblings were 'nothing alike'. 

He didn't have long to consider, though, as a sudden flash of blue fire struck Zuko's uncle squarely in the chest, knocking him back and providing an avenue for Azula's escape. 

She dashed back to her tank, leaping astride her mongoose-lizard as she went, and then they were safe. 

Zuko dashed to his uncle's side, dropping to his knees. 

Toph looked worried. "His heartbeat doesn't feel too good…" She murmured to Katara, who flicked open her flask. 

"Zuko, I can help." Katara offered. 

"Leave!" Zuko shouted, flinging fire wildly out, causing everyone to flinch.

Everyone but Sokka. 

He stepped forward, sliding his hands into Zuko's still red-hot palms, squeezing gently. "Hey. We just wanna make sure he's okay. You don't have to consider this as us helping you or anything. He's important to me, too, you know." 

Zuko, face wet with tears, nodded sharply. Katara wasted no time, kneeling beside the old firebender and setting the water in her pouch aglow. Toph, monitoring his vitals through her seismic senses, relaxed just before Katara finished her bending. 

"He's gonna be okay." Both girls pronounced simultaneously. A bit shocked, they glanced at one another before bursting into giggles.

"What happened? Weren't they at each other's throats?" Sokka asked, whispering loudly.

Aang shrugged. "They got even worse while you were doing your soulmate thing. I don't know what happened."

"Oh, it's a long story." Toph waved her hand. 

"We'll tell you some other time." Katara continued for her. 

_ I only left them alone for a few minutes… _

\---

"Hey, Zuko?" Sokka sounded hesitant, approaching him as the others loaded up the bison's saddle. 

Zuko hummed in acknowledgement, sitting at Uncle's side as he recovered. 

"About our stuff that you found…"

"Oh, I guess you want it back. I'm sorry, I ate most of the food stores-"

"No, no, that's fine… although, I am kind of sad about the seal jerky. I was trying to make it last. But, no! I wanted to say 'keep it', actually."

Zuko felt his breath catch in shock. "Really? Why?" 

"Well, we just bought a bunch of new stuff, so it'd be redundant, anyway. You and Uncle Iroh will get more use out of it." 

"That's… very considerate of you. Thank you." 

Sokka turned to leave, then abruptly about-faced, stalking back. Zuko could almost swear the tan boy was blushing, but it was faint enough under his skin that he convinced himself it was a trick of the light. 

"Actually… I kind of lied. Do keep the stuff, but… that's not what I came to talk about." 

"Okay…? What, then?"

"Well…" The flush darkened, and Zuko couldn't explain it away now. Sokka was definitely blushing. "The, uh, the bound-up papers I asked you about. There's, uh, actually something in there. For you. That I, uh, want you to see." He scratched the back of his head, the little ponytail bobbing in time with the motion. "Actually, forget it. It's not important. Don't look- you don't  _ have  _ to look. It's just… don't feel like you need to avoid looking at it just because of privacy or whatever, because it's for you. So. Yeah." He cleared his throat, jamming his thumb toward the bison. Zuko got a distinct sense of déjà vu. He wondered if they would accidentally end up going the same direction, again. "We gotta go, so, see ya!"

He held a hand up in a wave as the bison grew smaller and smaller in the distance. 

Sokka leaned out of the saddle, waving back for as long as he could see them. 

Damn him. Now the curiosity was eating at him. He couldn't  _ not  _ see what it was, hidden between those pages. 

First, though, he needed to make sure Uncle was alright. Priorities. 

If the bundle of papers sat at the back of his head as he checked on the old man, eating away a chunk of his attention, no one had to know. 


	20. Bitter Work/The Library

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im SO sorry this took a solid week to get up! me and my roommate (fairychix26) moved apartments this last weekend and then we started fostering a newborn baby kitten so things have been weird in our household!!   
> even worse half this chapter is lore info dumping jesus christ im so sorry   
> ANYWAY back soon with serpents pass!!

"I still can't believe you guys actually left me behind! On purpose!" Sokka whined, poking a stick into the low-burning campfire. 

The rest of them had slept for easily twelve straight hours following Azula's mad all-night pursuit, and had filled Sokka in on what he'd missed only after they woke up. 

Sokka almost wished they hadn't. 

"We thought Zuko was chasing us!" Aang defended, again. 

"Aang, you of all people should know how the whole spirit world thing works, right?" Sokka pointed out. "Like, the fact that for me to be visiting him in our dreams, he had to be asleep, too? How would he be following us?!"

"We were tired, okay! I didn't think it through! Azula had already kept us up way past midnight by then!" 

"You didn't 'think through'  _ leaving me behind?!"  _ Sokka huffed. This really wasn't helping him feel more like a necessary member of the group. 

"Sokka, please." Katara sighed. 

"What? Really, Katara? Don't tell me you were on board with this plan?" He groaned.

"No, I was going to say I already tore into them for it. You don't need to, they already feel bad." 

He considered, glancing over at her. "Did you threaten them with pain and freezing if anything bad happened?" 

She nodded. "I did. Aang went back for you as soon as we realized it was Azula following us." 

"Good, then." He was still miffed, but they  _ had  _ been low on sleep, plus the Plans Guy was obviously down for the count. "I guess I won't hold it against them for too long, then."

"Good." Toph grunted, spitting off to the side. "Because we can't be up all night listening to Princess here whine about his problems. We're gonna be up bright and early to get Twinkle Toes started on his earthbending training!" 

Sokka gaped at her. "Princess?!" 

Katara shrugged. "Would you prefer for her to go back to calling you 'Snoozles'?"

"I'd  _ prefer  _ to get my name! You know it, don't you?" Sokka pointed an accusing finger at the blind earthbender, unsure if she could actually see- or, well, sense it.

"Sure I do, Princess. You gotta earn my respect for me to use your actual name, though. Until then? You get whatever I think is funny." She waved, disappearing into a tent formed from rock slabs. 

Sokka turned to Katara again. " _ Princess,  _ though?!"

"Hey, she called me 'Sugar Queen'. And Aang's still 'Twinkle Toes'. It could be worse, I'm sure." 

Sokka didn't see how.

\---

Uncle awoke late in the morning, having gotten a good long rest in after his waterbending healing session. Zuko, having nervously prepared it beforehand, offered him some tea. 

Uncle had often spoken about the time and temperature needed to brew tea properly, but Zuko had never understood how it mattered, all tea tasting pretty much the same to him, and had just guessed based on color what the right brew was. 

He clearly got it wrong. 

"That was… bracing!" Uncle tried. Zuko accepted the attempt at a compliment, launching into his questions regardless of his failure. He'd hoped to coax Uncle into a good mood before dropping bad news on him, but the news couldn't wait. 

"Uncle… I can't bend." 

The old man's eyebrows raised, deepening the wrinkles in his forehead. "What do you mean, Nephew?"

"When Azula captured me… I could barely produce a spark." He demonstrated, a pitiful puff of flame coughing out from his palms. "I was able to bend normally with Sokka around, but without him, it's like this." 

"Hmm, that is quite the concerning development." Uncle conceded. 

"You told me we would be stronger if we worked together, but… does that come at the cost of losing my bending without him? Is that… normal?" As 'normal' as soulmates actually finding each other and bonding could be, that is. 

Uncle shook his head. "I've never heard of something like that occurring. The strength of the bond comes from your spirits resonating with one another, enhancing your natural abilities. This sort of thing is likely a separate issue." 

Zuko hummed, considering. "Do you know why, then?" 

Uncle nodded. "I have my guesses. Your bending has long been fueled by anger, yes? It seems to me like you've let go of some of your turmoil since we parted. Especially if you were able to walk the spirit world again." 

"Sokka said something similar… I don't know what that means, though. I just… decided I didn't want to do awful things in my father's name anymore. It doesn't feel like I'm any more at peace or less angry, though." Zuko admitted. 

Uncle looked shocked. "You've reached a new clarity, Nephew, one I did not expect. What brought this on?" 

He frowned. "A lot of things, I guess. Just… I had a lot of time to think, to see what we've done to the world. I want to do right by people." He slumped, scratching lightly at the rough clay teacup. "It seems impossible, though. As much as I want to do the right thing, I always seem to screw it up." 

Uncle hummed in consideration. "I see. It seems that the decision to do good is what settled your heart, and your hesitance is what dampened your fire. Firebending comes not only from rage, but from passion. From drive. From ambition. You are trying to bend without purpose, without stoking the flames. You must find your passion again." 

Zuko looked at his hands, searching his heart, as he had endlessly for the past several days. What was his drive now? "How can I do that, Uncle?"

"That's something you must figure out on your own. It will take time, I will not lie about that. However, in the meantime, we can train in defensive forms, so you can still protect yourself without generating flame. For example, I can show you how to redirect your sister's lightning." 

\---

Sokka awoke the next morning at dawn, as usual, and immediately decided to go right back to sleep. Aang would be starting earthbending basics soon, and Sokka had no obligation to be conscious during that. 

Toph, however, had other plans. 

She woke shortly after him, blasting open her rock tent, and barking out orders. Despite his complaints, she refused to quiet down, and he finally gave up getting any more sleep that morning. 

"Fine. You two do your magic to the rocks. I'm gonna go find somewhere nice and quiet and get my own training in." He grumbled. 

Toph snickered. "Aw, are we offending your delicate sensibilities, Princess? Don't worry, we won't disturb your spa day. Much." The tiny earthbender cracked her knuckles, a wide grin splitting her face. 

Sokka traveled a good, long distance to find his training spot, giving them a decently wide berth. 

He followed the Kyoshi warrior stretches and warm-ups before switching to something new. The girls' training was great for adapting to his hand-to-hand combat and various weapons, but he had something else he needed to work on now. 

For the first time in his life, Sokka was going to practice bending.

Well, that was the goal, anyway. He still didn't know how this whole bending-borrowing-thing worked, or if he could do it on command, or if he somehow took Zuko's fire when he did it? It was all unclear. 

What  _ was  _ clear was that it was going to keep happening at random intervals and if he didn't practice his control, he'd end up like Zhao, burning everything in his path without any way to hold back. 

He shuddered at the thought, falling into an approximation of a bending stance. He had a very good memory for this sort of thing, in general, but he'd seen from Aang and Katara that there was far more to this stuff than it first appeared. 

He breathed steadily, trying to feel the increasingly-familiar heat in his gut. In, step, out, punch. He fell into a rhythm, doing his best to focus on the feeling, rather than overthinking every little move. It grew more difficult the longer he worked at it, the  _ feeling  _ remaining frustratingly out-of-reach, and he found himself tempted to begin calculating his movements, as usual. 

Luckily, he was interrupted from analyzing the exact angle of his squat by Katara suddenly showing up. 

"Hey, how's your training going?" She chirped, voice layered with fake cheer. "Oh, you don't have any weapons today?" 

"Uh, yeah, I'm… okay, this is going to sound stupid." He started, nervously relaxing from his deep stance. "I'm trying to firebend."

She seemed surprised, but didn't voice it. "That doesn't sound stupid at all. Can I join you, actually? I think I could use some airbending practice." 

He shrugged. "Suit yourself. I gotta tell you, though, I haven't actually made any progress here. Not even a little smoke." 

"Hmm. I wonder if our soulmates have to be in danger for us to use their bending, then?" Katara mused. 

"I was able to firebend against Azula, even when I didn't know for sure if Zuko was in trouble and I was kinda far away from him, though. I think it's more complicated than that." 

She sighed. "I wish there was someone we could ask about these things."

"Or somewhere we could look it up." Sokka suggested.

A defeated silence fell between them, knowing the lore surrounding soulmates was more fiction than fact, that most tomes would be fairy tales with only grains of truth to them. 

"Well, even if we can't actually bend, maybe we can still get some practice in!" Katara offered optimistically. "I know when I started learning proper waterbending forms, practicing getting the stances fluid was just as important as actually feeling the flow of the water." 

"Aang doesn't really…  _ do  _ stances for airbending, though. He just kind of… does it." Sokka pointed out. 

"Yeah, it's like it just comes so naturally to him… show me what you've been working on, then."

"You want to learn firebending stances?" 

She shrugged. "Why not? I think I could adapt the forms to other types of bending. I've been doing that already, working off what I've seen other benders doing." 

"What, really?" 

She nodded.

"That's crazy! I can't believe that actually works!"

"Don't you do the same thing? You use the stuff you learned fighting with fans to fight with your other weapons, don't you?" She tilted her head, her loose hair spilling over her shoulder. 

"Well, yeah, but… that's just practical stuff. Your stuff's magic!"

She splashed him in the face with a burst of magic water. "It is not! Bending is just a natural talent, like anything else!"

"You make things do stuff and it's not natural! It's totally magic!" 

"I'll show you magic!" She threatened, drawing more water from her pouch. 

It wasn't until much later when, exhausted from tussling like kids again, Sokka realized they hadn't actually gotten around to practicing those firebending forms.

\---

Zuko was frustrated that his uncle refused to let him practice the technique he'd taught him under real conditions, but recognized that those  _ conditions  _ involved potentially fatal consequences should he fail to properly execute the technique. After hours of dry practice, his arms were sore and heavy from being held up for so long, and he was ready to call it a night.

Uncle took over making the tea this time, explaining patiently the correct time and temperature once more despite the knowledge that his nephew would certainly not retain the information this time either, and Zuko dug out the conspicuous little bundle of papers. 

What could be in here that was both so important and so embarrassing? Sokka had been so conflicted about him seeing it. 

The curiosity ate at him. He didn't have good impulse control at the best of times, and he'd technically been given explicit permission to take a look, so the bundle was untied before he even fully registered what he was doing. 

The first several pages were completely blank. He flipped them carefully, one at a time, searching for what secrets lay within, until, out of the center pages, a pressed flower slid out. It was carefully pressed, fully dried, but one of the black-and-white petals was crumbling, pieces flaking off of the tip. 

Was that it? Some flower? Why would Sokka be embarrassed about him finding a flower? 

He opened to the page where it originated, and found scrawling handwriting littering the slightly warped page. He squinted, trying to decipher the terrible script. 

.

_ why did i pick this? _

_ the color? the rarity? _

_ the place where it grew? _

_. _

The first set of lines, clustered together, suggested Sokka had used this page as some sort of diary regarding the flower within. The rest of the lines, in similar clusters of three, formed a border around where the bloom had clearly formed an indentation in the page. 

He continued to read, curious about what sort of notes were here. Nothing so far had seemed particularly embarrassing. 

.

_ the black and the white  _

_ pale skin, dark hair. yin and yang. _

_ opposites, balanced _

_. _

This one was clearly a poem of some sort. Sokka had mentioned being interested in the art form, once. He'd even promised Zuko a poem as a gift, once. 

If memory served, that had been near Zuko's eleventh birthday. He couldn't hold it against the other boy for falling through on that particular promise, considering how things had happened shortly after. 

.

_ he said the palace _

_ sits inside a volcano _

_ that's where he grew up _

_ it was hot, stifling _

_ but something so beautiful _

_ could still flourish there _

_. _

Was this… about him? The first clearly was, but the second… that was too sappy, especially for someone like Sokka. 

"Hmm, this looks like a panda lily." Uncle's voice suddenly interrupted, coming from just over Zuko's shoulder. The prince let out an undignified squeak, nearly snapping the pages together, only narrowly stopping himself. The flower would be crushed. 

"Uh, what? A panda lily?" Zuko could feel how flushed he must be, face hot enough to combust. He regretted checking the bundle with Uncle in the room. 

"Yes. They are very rare. They grow in volcanoes, you see. They like the heat. Unfortunately, they can still be burned should the lava bubble too hot." Uncle explained.

That… that made sense. More sense than 'something so beautiful' referring to Zuko, himself. 

.

_ that crazy bat said _

_ those flowers grew nowhere else _

_ totally unique _

_. _

"I wonder who that could be…" Zuko murmured. 

He read on.

.

_ it's stupid of me _

_ to be so sentimental _

_ but i can't help it _

_. _

Sokka berating himself in his own secret notes was terribly in-character, and Zuko couldn't help his chuckle. This really was incredibly sappy. He was beginning to understand the other boy's utter terror at the prospect that Zuko may have stumbled across these accidentally. 

.

_ petals all dried now _

_ so fragile and delicate _

_ shatter with a touch _

_ can we trust him now? _

_ will he betray us again? _

_ will the petals break? _

_. _

Zuko was starting to get confused about where Sokka was writing about the flowers and where he was writing about him. Was there some sort of metaphor he was going for here? 

Zuko had never had a head for poetry. Or proverbs. Or metaphor in general.

.

_ is this poetry? _

_ i'm a sappy piece of shit _

_ can't let them see this _

_. _

Scribbled next to the last cluster were the numbers 5, 7, and 5, in a column. 

Haiku. These were all haiku.

Somehow, Sokka hadn't realized he'd filled a page with haiku until the very last. Zuko wondered if it was on purpose that the last fit the number of syllables, as well. 

"It seems your friend is a talented poet, if these were all on accident." Uncle chuckled. 

Zuko frowned. "Stop reading over my shoulder." He grumbled. 

Uncle's chuckle bubbled up into a full-out guffaw. "I apologize for being nosy, but it's just all so very romantic!" 

"Uncle!" He groaned. 

"Fine, fine, I'll leave you be. I can pretend I never saw anything. It can be your secret." 

The mischievous twinkle in his amber eyes suggested otherwise, but Zuko was too embarrassed to prolong the conversation any more. He carefully pressed the panda lily between the pages, tying it back up, and stowing the whole bundle away again. 

Sokka's scribbled words would surely haunt his thoughts in the days to come, the clumsy scrawl still burned into his vision, but for now, he tried to focus on the small meal before him, the steaming cup of tea, and making things right between himself and his uncle.

\---

A small creature padded by, interrupting their training. Katara cooed over the cute critter, with its big, floppy paws and its nubby little horns. 

Sokka just tried not to trip. The beastie ran loops around his ankles, chasing its tail or his shadow or tiny insects, and generally making a nuisance of itself. 

"Aw, come on! We can take a break, right?" Katara pressed, wiggling her fingers out to coax the creature nearer to her. 

"If we take a break, it'll be for me to hunt this thing." Sokka grumbled. "This little meat creature would be more use to us as food." 

Katara gasped, slapping his calf. "Rude! He just wants to play with you!"

"What he _wants_ is to annoy me." Sokka argued. "Anyway, I thought you were here to train with me, not to get distracted by admittedly adorable food animals." 

She huffed. "Haven't we done enough, already? We're just going through the same forms over and over with nothing happening!"

"Yeah." He snapped. "That's what all training without bending is. You don't get immediate results, but you stick with it anyway."    
She fell back, startling the little creature, groaning loudly. "But it's so boring!" 

"Yeah, it is. It takes self-discipline. This is a good chance to learn some." 

Offended, she sat back up to glare at him. "You think I don't have self-discipline?!" 

He rolled his eyes. "I think you'd have  _ more  _ if things didn't just come easily to you all the time." 

"What?!" She shrieked. "I work my ass off all the time! Just because  _ you're  _ always slacking off, that doesn't mean the rest of us are!" 

"Oh,  _ I'm  _ the one slacking off?" 

The bickering grew heated. The training was abandoned. 

The little meat creature did not get hunted.

\---

The following day, Uncle led Zuko through a different routine, showing him how to take the flame of another bender and redirect that. It was the same concept as the lightning redirection, taking waterbending forms and applying them to his own bending, but it was more feasible to get some hands-on practice in. 

Uncle sent blasts of fire in his direction, aiming wide enough that there was no chance of stray hits, and instructed Zuko to send them back towards him. It was strange, feeling the chi ebb and flow, rather than simply pulse outward. It took careful, quiet control, leaving his skin burning and cooling in turn, but the results were plenty satisfying. 

The grass behind Uncle sufficiently charred, the old man called for a break. "Excellent work, Zuko! This technique will doubtlessly keep you safe should Azula return." 

"Thank you, Uncle." He bent in a shallow bow, rising as Uncle returned the motion, and stretched out his aching shoulders. He would still be in trouble should they be attacked by earthbenders, instead, but it was better than nothing. 

No, that was an insult to Uncle's careful teaching. Just a couple days ago, Zuko had been forced to send desperate blasts just to knock Azula's more powerful fire off-course. Sokka was in the line of fire the whole time, and, even sent wide, Azula's blasts nearly scorched him. This technique was more than just 'better than nothing'. 

"You see, Nephew, there is much to be learned from studying the other elements." Uncle explained, building on his lesson from before. "Just as you found applications of techniques between your bending and your swordplay, you can apply principles from all disciplines to your firebending." 

"Yes, Uncle." A question rose from the explanation, and Zuko struggled to put it into words. "Did you- How did you think of this? Did you know about- did you have someone-"

"I think I know what you're asking. You wonder if I have a soulmate who is a waterbender, yes?" 

Zuko nodded. Uncle chuckled. 

"No, nothing like that. I simply have dear friends from all walks of life. Actually," He stroked his beard, turning his gaze to the sky with consideration. "I had never heard of soulmates being able to share bending in the way that you've told me." 

"What? Really?" 

"Really. There are many tales of soulmate pairs where one partner, hmm,  _ discovers  _ latent bending abilities through the bond, but that doesn't seem to be the case here." 

Zuko almost laughed. "No, I don't think there's any chance Sokka was a  _ secret  _ firebender all along."

"It's a novelty, to be sure. There are many such novelties surrounding your life, though. As usual." 

He wondered if that was a good or a bad thing. 

\---

Sokka had tripped over the damn meat creature, fallen into a crevasse, nearly been eaten by its fully-grown saber-toothed moose-lion  _ mother,  _ and was only narrowly rescued by Aang while Toph stood by, offering no aid. 

But at least Aang learned to earthbend, right?! 

"Can we get a move on, now? Surely, the rest of his training can be done on the road?" 

"What, the Princess can't handle sleeping outside?" Toph taunted.

"Is there somewhere you wanna go, Sokka?" Aang asked, ignoring her. The airbender's new, improved backbone was weird, but refreshing. 

"Yes, actually. I was hoping to try and find someplace with some good, recent Fire Nation maps. I picked up a bunch of maps in Gaoling, but they're all vague at best about the whole area. A lot of them just leave Fire Nation soil off the map entirely." 

"Maps? What for?" Katara asked, looking over his shoulder as he pulled out the aforementioned maps. 

"For planning! Even if we manage to train Aang up into a fully-realized Avatar, we still don't know what we're going to  _ do  _ with him. We don't even know where the palace is!" 

"You don't?" Aang titled his head, confused. "I thought you went there a lot when you were a kid."

"Yeah, in my dreams! Spirit journeys don't exactly acquaint you with the landscape.  _ You  _ should know that, Mr. Avatar." He jabbed a rolled-up map at him, accusatorially. 

"Oh. You make a good point. I didn't think of that." Aang pouted. 

"Where do you want to go, then? We'd have to either go to a Fire Nation library, way too dangerous, or to some library removed from the war entirely, which I guess would be the North Pole." Katara asked. 

"The North Pole maps wouldn't really solve the 'recent maps' problem. They were all useless, even for the Earth Kingdom. A lot's changed in a hundred years." Sokka chewed his lip, seriously considering the 'Fire Nation libraries' option. 

"Well, it's been a while since we did anything fun. How about we all take a little time off? We can go to interesting locations in-between training sessions, and maybe we'll think of something along the way. How's that sound?" 

Toph and Aang both enthusiastically agreed with Katara's suggestion, leaving Sokka the lone dissenter. Outvoted, he agreed to the plan. 

"I wanna go first! I already know where I wanna go!" Aang piped up. 

"Oh? Where's that?" Katara asked, curious. 

The airbender grinned, holding a finger to his lips. "It's a surprise!"

\---

The gophers were… mildly amusing, sure. The oasis? An absolute nightmare. It was dingy, it was full of bounty hunters, and the promised ice spring was barely clinging on to existence. 

Sokka glanced at the wanted poster bearing Aang's visage, a familiar sight by now, and hoped these bounty hunters had their sights on bigger prizes. 

Heading right into the lion's den, Aang led the quartet into the bar. 

The bartender put on a great show, using twin blades to prepare the drinks, and Sokka was distracted from the ensuing conversation between Aang and… some guy who asked a bunch of weird questions? Sokka ordered a drink, watching with rapt attention as the blades whirled. They weren't the same kind that Zuko was partial to, but he bet the prince could probably adapt easily. They moved with mesmerising speed and grace, performing an intricate dance while reducing the fruit to mush. As though the blades were an extension of his limbs, the bartender used them to perform all the tasks involved, including shaving ice bowls for the drinks and pouring a hearty amount of some strong-smelling alcohol in with the fruity mush. The man asked no questions, accepting Sokka's money and handing over the punch. 

No man's land had its perks, after all.

The excitable man was chatting with Aang over a map by the time Sokka rejoined the conversation, frosty beverage in hand. Whoops, this was where he was needed. 

"Wait, this is just a map of the desert. It doesn't even have the Fire Nation  _ on  _ it!" He glanced between his companions for clarification, but none of them seemed any more caught up than he was. 

"You've made a lot of trips into the desert." Katara noted, pointing out the sketched routes on the shitty map. 

The strange man launched into an enthusiastic explanation about a hidden library, created and kept by a spirit of knowledge. 

Well, that seemed promising. "I think I know where I want to spend my mini-vacation."

\---

It was hours into a very hot flight through the desert that the eccentric professor informed them that the library they sought might be no more than a myth. 

"Well, if it is real, I bet Sokka can find it." Aang grinned over at him optimistically. 

"Aang. You're the Avatar. Remember?" Sokka was tired of saying it. 

Aang rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm the bridge between the worlds or whatever, but the spirits like you! It's like… I'm a diplomat, and you're their friend!" 

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Sokka argued, peering through the spyglass once more. 

To his aggravation, he spotted something almost immediately; an ornate spire shot out from the deep sand, matching the one in the charcoal sketch, and a spirit animal (a fox? It looked sort of similar to the seal-foxes back home) scurried into the arched windows. 

"Wow, incredible! You really do have an affinity for the spirits, young man!" The professor congratulated, patting Sokka's shoulder firmly.

"Yay, me." He grumbled. 

"Ah, now to begin excavating! I can only hope the wonders within have been preserved by the sand." Far too gleeful to find his goal beneath countless tons of gritty sand, the strange professor produced a trowel from his pack and began enthusiastically digging. 

"Suit yourself, but you should know the inside's sand-free." Toph pointed out, palm to the stone spire. Sokka swore the man's eyes sparkled. 

The professor gushed over every detail as they entered, carefully descending what seemed like a full mile of rope. The place  _ was  _ pretty impressive, Sokka had to admit. It was practically a whole city in and of itself, huge enough to encompass all of Omashu inside. If this whole thing was full of information, Sokka doubted there was anything that  _ wasn't  _ in here. Maps were trivial, at this point. There would certainly be far more interesting secrets to learn. 

The keeper of the library was far less enthusiastic about their entrance, however. "I know you're hiding there." The disgruntled voice of the enormous owl snapped. 

"I'm Professor Xei, Head of Anthropology at Ba Sing Se University!" The eccentric professor introduced himself, enthusiastic still, and rushed to meet the owl. 

He was not met with the same enthusiasm. "You should leave the way you came, unless you want to become a  _ stuffed  _ Head of Anthropology." The owl warned. 

Sokka motioned to the others. Professor Xei needed some backup. 

"Are you the spirit that brought this library to the physical world?" Sokka asked. 

"Indeed. I am Wan Shi Tong, He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things. And you are humans, who, by the way, are no longer permitted in this library." The beak clicked and snapped dangerously as the owl spoke, despite not matching pace with his words. It was a threat, and likely not an empty one. 

"What do you have against humans?" Aang asked, unperturbed by Wan Shi Tong's hostile posturing. 

"Humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans. Tell me, who are  _ you  _ trying to destroy?" The huge eyes of the owl were easily the size of Sokka's head, something that became uncomfortably apparent as the spirit drew dangerously near him. 

"What? No, no, no destroying! We're not into that!" Sokka awkwardly refuted. His voice cracked and squeaked, revealing his fear and deception. 

The huge head tilted, nearly upside down, taking in the human before it. "Wait a moment. I know you." 

"Uh, you do?" Sokka scratched at the back of his head, leaning away from the curious owl. 

"Yes. You're the Jin Lu's little pet project, aren't you?" 

"Uh, I guess so." Sokka admitted, glancing back at the others. Professor Xei was taking furious notes in a small book, watching the interaction intently. 

"Hmm. I thought as much. Your spirit doesn't quite  _ fit  _ in your mortal body anymore, does it?" 

That was… concerning to hear. "What do you mean?" 

"Having been split apart so frequently, and during a formative period of your life, your body and spirit grew independently of one another. That small-brained deer surely didn't consider the long-term consequences of his actions. Now, you've a foot on each side. It's quite the uncouth existence, isn't it?" 

"Is it really so bad?" Sokka didn't quite understand what he was being told here. 

"It's a bit  _ vulgar,  _ but I suppose that means little to someone like  _ you. _ " The owl taunted. 

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" 

"Take care, boy, lest your spirit forget how to return." Wan Shi Tong leaned away from him once more, giving him space and regarding the group more fully. "I suppose I can see now what it is your little group is doing here." 

"You can?" Aang asked, puzzled at the jump in topics. "I mean, of course you can! Being so wise and all!" 

"Hmm. Between the Avatar and the Jin Lu's  _ experiment,  _ I have to imagine you all are here for information on the spirit world." 

"Actually-" Aang began. Sokka slapped a hand over his mouth, cutting off the rest of the thought. 

"Actually, we're here for information about soulmates! If anyone's got actual facts about 'em, it's gotta be 'He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things', right?" Sokka offered, aiming for flattery. 

"Fine. I will have my knowledge seekers guide you to the information you seek."

"Thank you for your graciousness." Aang bowed, then grabbed Sokka's elbow to lead him away. 

"Not so fast." Wan Shi Tong interrupted, calling attention to himself once more. 

\---

The owl demanded 'donations' to his stupid, oversized library, insulted Sokka  _ again _ , and then sent them with an escort, still not trusting them to wander freely. The fox padded along the rows, leading them this way and that until it drew to an abrupt halt. 

"This must be it." Katara said, already perusing the titles of the endless rows of tomes. 

"We won't find what you were looking for here." Aang pointed out, glancing over at Sokka. 

"We'll split up. Aang, go find something interesting for me. Report back when you do. I'll stay with the fox." Sokka ordered. 

"Really?" Aang cocked his head, mirroring the same motion on the knowledge seeker. "Don't you wanna be the one to… look for things?" 

"I do, but I think Wan Shi Tong would be less upset about the Avatar wandering than me. You heard how he talked about me." 

"Yeah, what was  _ that  _ all about?" Katara asked, suddenly appearing, arms heaped with promising books. 

"I wish I knew." He turned back toward Aang, returning to the point. "Besides, I do actually want to look up some things while I'm here. I want to know about that bending sharing thing we've been doing, how that all works. I'll never get a better chance to do that." 

Aang seemed uncertain, but nodded. "Okay, Sokka. I'll be right back if I find anything."

"Thanks, buddy." He barely glanced to check if the airbender was actually leaving (he was, taking his glider for speed) before checking out what Katara had gathered. "What do we have?" 

\---

It was grueling work, slogging through the tomes and scrolls and loose papers packed into the shelves, but he finally found a concise explanation, more scientific than mythic, about the essence of soulmates.

Well, as scientific as the topic could possibly be asked to be. 

"'Think of the soul bond as the union of yin and yang.'" He read aloud. Katara shut the book she'd been skimming, turning more fully to listen properly. "'The two are not two halves of one whole, but rather two wholes in themselves, which complement one another fully. Two souls may be closely aligned, but never bonded, should the complements be insufficient. There is a perfect complement for every soul. Although it is possible to stumble across one's perfect complement without guidance, it is customary in most regions to turn to the spirits for aid. The spirits do not choose the complements, but rather have an easier time seeing the resonance between souls than mortals do.'" 

"What?! That can't be- that's what it says?" Katara shifted, reading over his shoulder. He pointed out the passage he was reading from. 

"'In the case of soul bonds wherein one or both parties is a bender, there is a phenomenon that can be observed wherein the bending talents of one are shared with the other. For example, a firebender bonded to a waterbender may also bend water, and vice versa. This is because of the resonance of the souls. Again, think of yin and yang. The yin within the yang is the water within the firebender, the yang within the yin is the fire within the waterbender. When the souls resonate most strongly, this part of the soul gains more power, revealing the bending talents within.'" Sokka rubbed his forehead, the density of the text getting to him. "So, like, what. There's a part of me that's more Zuko than Sokka, and that's what firebends?"

"What's all this about resonance?" Katara cut in, tracing a finger down the page. "Here it is. 'The souls resonate when strong emotions related to the bond are present. This can be when one or both members of the bond are in danger, causing both members of the bond to feel strong fear. On the opposite end of the emotional spectrum, this can also occur when both members feel simultaneous strong joy or love.'" 

"This is all giving me a headache. I think we need more time to look at this." He took the tome back from Katara, snapping it closed and sliding it into his satchel. 

With eerie timing, Aang touched down nearby. "Sokka, I've got some bad news…"

\---

The entire wing dedicated to the Fire Nation had been reduced to cinders. Sokka pressed on, still desperate to come out of this whole misadventure with something  _ actually  _ useful, slipping various odds and ends into his satchel beside the great big soulmate textbook. 

Finally, fortune favored them, giving them the date of a complete solar eclipse just before Wan Shi Tong, in a fit of rage, took the entire library back to the spirit world with him. The trio managed to escape just in time, with Toph's aid on the surface, although they had to leave Professor Xei behind to slip into the spirit world without them. 

One awful thing after another, like a cascade of marbles, tipped from a jar atop a staircase. Appa, missing. Aang's fury. The intense, oppressive wasteland of the desert. The psychedelic effects of the water trapped within the cacti. The enormous vulture-wasps. The accusations of the sandbenders, sparking the fury of the Avatar State.

At the end of it all, they had barely made it out of the desert alive, Aang was an absolute mess without his dear friend, and they were (again, as usual, always) without supplies to make it through the next leg of the journey. 

But, after everything, they  _ did  _ have a destination, at the very least, and some very promising news to deliver to the Earth King once they arrived. 

It would have to be enough.


	21. The Serpent's Pass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> getting settled into the new place and getting into a rhythm with the baby kitten  
> shes doing really well! shes gaining weight really fast and her little ears are getting perky!! shes so cute!!!

It had been a weird few months for the Kyoshi warriors. 

Following the arrival of the Avatar and the ensuing attack by the pursuing Fire Nation soldiers, Suki had made the decision to leave the island to join the war effort properly. Oyaji had urged her to stay, citing the need for more hands for the rebuilding, but it didn't sit quite right with her to sit still while war raged just outside their borders. 

The dojo was in shambles, anyway, and the village didn't have enough intact rooms for all the warriors to remain, regardless. 

Most of the warriors had elected to join her when she offered, packing up travel bags and saying their goodbyes. She had led them across the kingdom, searching out people and places that could use extra hands and strong backs. There was a village rebuilding after their people had been freed from a Fire Nation prison barge, the earthbenders revelling in their freedom and grateful for the help with the harvest. There was a village rebuilding after an attack by a rogue spirit, angered by the unrestrained destruction of the Fire Nation soldiers who tore through his domain, the people of the village elated to have more steady hands constructing new homes. There was a village near a burst dam, the homes all flooded and the nearby forest burned, and the villagers thanked the warriors profusely for the escort from their uninhabitable village to the city of Ba Sing Se, the only place still able to protect refugees. 

That's where they stayed, for the moment, hired on by the overwhelmed ferry keepers. So many refugees had been showing up, the Fire Nation's advances on the Earth Kingdom becoming more and more pronounced as the Fire Lord got cocky about his victories. Fights had begun to break out between groups of refugees, tensions high and stomachs empty. Theft was on the rise, so many people around it was difficult to impossible to keep one's eyes on all of one's belongings. Many of the people here had no passports or identification of any kind, and some were enraged at being denied entry to the city, growing hostile and taking their frustration out on anyone nearby. 

So this is where Suki stayed, she and her warriors dressing in new uniforms, leaving behind their armor and makeup to take on a new mantle for now. Here, they could help keep people safe, ensure as many people as possible actually made it into the city, and were on-hand to act as escorts for those who could not. 

As luck would have it, a familiar group wandered into Full Moon Bay just before her shift guarding one of the passport check stations ended. The Avatar and friends chose the most high-strung of all the agents to stroll up to, but still managed to successfully barter passage for themselves. Suki was impressed. That woman would take any excuse to bar people from Ba Sing Se, taking her job extremely seriously. 

"All right! We scammed that lady good!" Sokka cheered, far too loudly, as Suki approached them. She barely held back a giggle. The boy was always so enthusiastic and  _ so  _ terrible at subterfuge. 

She snagged him by the collar. "Tickets and passports, please." She demanded, jokingly. 

"Is there a problem?" Sokka asked, looking nervous. He didn't recognize her? Well, then, this could be fun!

"Yeah, I got a problem with  _ you. _ I've seen your type before. Probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious? Oh, and let me guess, you're traveling with the Avatar." She was impressed she held back a smile through all of that. 

Still, though, there was no flicker of recognition in Sokka's eyes. "Do I know you?" How?! She was being so obvious!

"You mean you don't remember?" She growled, snagging him by the tunic, still in-character. "Maybe you remember  _ this! _ " 

She tugged him in close, pressing her lips to his cheek, just as she had before he'd left with Aang to mitigate the damage to the village. 

That worked, thank the spirits, and his face brightened. "Suki!" He cheered, throwing his arms around her. She melted into the tight hug, squeezing back just as hard. Despite all she'd heard about the Avatar's exploits in their travels, she had still been terrified for them, not knowing how far they'd made it and if they were still safe. They seemed plenty healthy, though, and Sokka had definitely filled out a bit since the last time she'd embraced him like this. 

"Sokka, it's so good to see you!" She broke the hug, putting distance between them and letting herself break into a wide smile. She looked over his shoulder, seeing Aang and Katara wearing matching grins, and Momo chittering into an unfamiliar and confused little girl's ear. "My shift is over soon! Meet me up there in an hour, under that pavilion. We can catch up, and maybe you can introduce me to the new girl?" 

The girl waved, not quite looking Suki in the eyes. Her gaze was unfocussed, pupils milky. Was she blind? Maybe Aang was escorting her to the city? She'd missed so much in the months they were away! 

"Absolutely!" Katara agreed to the rendezvous on behalf of the group. 

"You won't  _ believe  _ all the crazy stuff that's happened!" Sokka told her. 

"I bet not! Oh, I've missed you all so much!" With a parting hug to each member of the trio, and a quick wave to the unfamiliar child, she returned to her post. It was going to be the longest final hour to a shift she'd ever had.

\---

Following the failed purge of the colonized town, the Fire Nation army had retaliated against the Freedom Fighters. They'd been too conspicuous, Jet having placed his bets on there being no Fire Nation survivors to report their deeds, and the reinforcements had set fire to the forest to smoke them out. 

Not all of the Freedom Fighters survived. The ambush party did, yes, but the younger and less well-trained Fighters didn't all get out quite fast enough, didn't get low enough, breathed in too much smoke or got caught in the blaze itself. 

Jet's fury boiled over, but he held just as much disdain for himself as for their enemy. He'd been too cocky, put too much faith in his wit and charisma. That  _ traitor  _ may have ruined the plans, but it was Jet who had failed to plan for the contingency. He hadn't had a backup plan for protecting his people, the kids he'd taken in and promised a better life, freedom from the horrors of their past. 

The Fire Nation may have burned the forest, but Jet had led them to it. 

Many of the Freedom Fighters left, then, joining the refugees fleeing the town. Jet announced to the remainder that he would no longer hold the mantle of leader, that he couldn't make good on his promises anymore. Several of those who left then mentioned finding their own ways to push back against the Fire Nation, or to help with the war effort in other ways. 

Only Smellerbee, who'd been with him the longest, and Longshot, who rarely left her side these days, remained. 

"Let's go to Ba Sing Se." Smellerbee had suggested. "We can start over there. There'll be a bunch of refugees, too. Maybe we can help them somehow." 

It had been a convincing argument. 

Without any sort of official documentation, they wouldn't be welcomed at Full Moon Bay, as a traveling merchant informed them. He'd glanced over their weapons, their armor, their sturdy stances, and told them he had an idea. 

They followed him to the next village, and he talked them up to a caravan there. In exchange for protecting the goods, the caravan would be their ticket into the city.

Jet had looked to Smellerbee and Longshot before agreeing. He wasn't the leader anymore, and he couldn't speak for them. 

They'd agreed, and the caravan headed off, three new teenage guards in tow. As expected, they came in useful, bandits and thugs lining the road to Ba Sing Se thickly. While many who had lost their homes and livelihoods just wanted to start a new, peaceful life somewhere, plenty had found a lawless existence far easier, and prey was readily available. 

It didn't feel good, fighting Earth Kingdom citizens like this. Especially knowing all of them were in the same boat as he and his Fighters had been. The difference was where they put their energy. 

Knowing these same men, armed to the teeth and willing to do anything for a decent meal, could have chosen to attack Fire Nation troops but had chosen to ambush refugees instead  _ did  _ make the decision to fight them quite a bit easier, though. 

At long last, they finally reached Full Moon Bay and secured passage to Ba Sing Se. Their fresh start was just a ferry ride away. Clutching his newly-approved ticket, Jet took a deep, steadying breath. He'd spent his whole life fighting, and hardly knew what to do with himself now that he was seeking peace. It was strange, feeling so anxious when he  _ knew  _ there were no threats around. There had always been threats. Would he, someday, be able to relax fully? Would the safety afforded in Ba Sing Se ever stop feeling  _ wrong  _ to him? 

Smellerbee placed a steady hand to his elbow, grounding him. "Hey. This'll be good, you'll see."

"I know it will, Bee. Don't worry about me." 

\---

With solemn faces, the group informed Suki of their reason for coming to Ba Sing Se; Appa had been stolen, and their only lead brought them here. She began to mentally run through a list of the girls who had come with her, wondering which of them she could convince to drop their jobs here and come join her in searching for the bison. 

Her train of thought was interrupted, as was the conversation, by a group of refugees, one heavily pregnant, who'd had their belongings stolen. 

_ Shit. _

Partially out of a sense of responsibility, for allowing this to happen when it was her warriors on the job, and partially out of a selfish desire to spend more time with Sokka (and the others! But especially Sokka), she threw on her Kyoshi garb and hurried to catch up to the group, already on their way to the Serpent's Pass. They were relieved to have her along, though Sokka was acting…  _ strangely,  _ to say the least. 

"I thought you'd  _ want  _ me to come." She furrowed her brows, trying to add up his strange demeanor. He'd seemed so excited to see her earlier, what had happened? Was he upset with her for kissing him out of the blue like that? 

"I do!" He responded, too forced to be genuine. "It's just…"

"Just what?" She really hoped he'd just come out and explain himself. This was supposed to be a happy reunion!

"Nothing, I'm glad you're coming." His tone was flat, unenthusiastic. Utterly… un-Sokka-like. 

Definitely upset with her, then. Well, it wasn't like she was coming along only for him. The Serpent's Pass was dangerous, and she could be useful, here. Now that she was off the clock, she would just be sitting around uselessly if she didn't, anyway! 

She strode past him, all business, and caught up to the others. 

"So, Toph, they said? What's your story?" 

Suki caught Sokka looking nervous, chewing his lip and hanging back. The little earthbender was perfectly happy to oblige her, chattering about her origin and how she'd come to join the Avatar. For a moment, Suki almost thought she was pulling some sort of prank, claiming she used earthbending instead of her eyes to navigate, but it became clear pretty quickly that she was being entirely forthright. Huh. 

"Aang sure does meet the most interesting sort of people, doesn't he? It's kind of impressive." Suki commented, watching Aang march at the front of the group without any of his usual whimsy. It was like he'd matured, hardened. It felt very wrong. 

The whole group was so different than they'd been last she saw them. It didn't feel much like catching up with old friends at all. 

\---

In line for the ferry, someone in particular caught Jet's eye. 

The boy stood quietly next to an older man, both of them dressed in cheap clothing that appeared relatively new. While the man stood casually, laughing easily, the boy had a rigid posture, back straight, shoulders square. If it weren't for how young he appeared to be, Jet would guess he was a soldier. Maybe he'd deserted his training? Was that how he ended up here? 

The boy's head turned, looking to his companion, and Jet got a full view of a very nasty scar. 

Clearly a burn wound, eating half the boy's face, reducing his left ear to a gnarled stub. If the scar was as bad as it looked, was he blind in that eye? Deaf in that ear? Maybe he'd actually been discharged from the army after a wound like that. 

"What are you looking at, Jet?" Smellerbee's voice cut through his thoughts. She was on her tiptoes, twisting around to try to follow his gaze. 

"That guy over there, with the scar." He nodded in the boy's direction, trying to point him out before he turned away again. "I bet he's got a killer grudge against the Fire Nation, like us. Could be useful."

Smellerbee screwed her face up, nose wrinkling. "I thought you weren't recruiting. I thought we were starting over."

"I can't just let a golden opportunity like this pass me by. Let's just talk to him, alright?"

Smellerbee crossed her arms, looking very much like it was  _ not  _ alright with her. She said nothing, though, so Jet went back to calculating his approach. 

The Freedom Fighters were down to this small group, and their new purpose was to help people in need. The guy clearly had a lot in common with them, his history marked blatantly on his face. Not to mention he was armed, a sheath sitting comfortably on his hip. Teenager with a blade? Always looking for trouble. 

The opportunity to approach presented itself soon after they boarded the ferry, the boy complaining about the rations the passengers had been given. He must have been hungry for a while before arriving here, if he was willing to even try that slop. Luckily, Jet had heard some pretty interesting rumors about the captain and his personal larder.

"Wanna help us  _ liberate _ some food?" Jet offered. 

The boy turned, flinging the dregs of his rotten soup overboard. "I'm in."

For a moment, Jet couldn't respond. He threw on a cocky smirk to cover the weird dip his heart just took after seeing the guy properly, head-on, for the first time. 

Pale as the moon, with sharp features.  _ Pretty  _ didn't even start to cover it. The guy was  _ hauntingly  _ attractive. Jet's gaze lingered for too long, and Smellerbee cleared her throat. 

"Right. Meet us over there after sundown. I'll fill you in on the plan then." Jet nodded in the direction of the staircase leading to the upper levels. 

"Got it." The boy responded, turning away. Clearly, he thought the conversation was over. 

Jet returned to the others. 

"What was that about?" Smellerbee hissed at him. 

Jet didn't have a good answer for her. "It was just… a really gross scar." He lied. 

\---

Every time Suki tried to strike up a conversation with Sokka, he got weirdly dodgy and defensive. 

Every. Time.

By the time the sun set, she was very frustrated with him, and was torn between just not speaking with him for the rest of the journey and strangling the information out of him. What was his problem?!

'Oh, you guys went to the North Pole, how did that go?' was a simple question! It didn't merit him going all pale and stuttering through half-explanations! All she knew was the moon died and a girl Sokka liked was the moon now? Was all this because he'd almost-dated another girl? 

She took a deep breath, centering herself. She couldn't get to the bottom of this if she blew up at him. It was just like settling disputes between the girls. Listen to both sides, hear everybody out, reach an equitable solution. Just because she was maybe more emotionally invested in this didn't mean her conflict-resolution skills wouldn't be useful. 

She approached him as he sat near a ledge, watching the moon rise. 

"Hey." She greeted. "Can I sit with you?" 

To her surprise, he nodded. "Go ahead." 

She did, and waited for him to talk, not knowing how to approach him now. 

Finally, after a long, painful silence, he began. "I'm sorry I've been so cagey today. There's just… a lot I need to tell you, and I don't know where to start." 

She tilted her head, studying his expression. He looked guilty, more than anything. "Is this about the girl from the North Pole? Are you worried I'll be jealous?" 

"Yue was… I think we could have really had something, if circumstances had been different. She was gorgeous, and perfect, and she actually seemed to like me. I really wanted to be with her. It just couldn't happen, because…" 

"Because of the whole… moon thing?" Suki winced. She couldn't think of a better way to put it. 

"What? No- well, yeah, that was part of it. Mostly because of… that stuff I said I need to tell you."

So the girl wasn't part of the 'stuff'? "What, then?" 

He took a long time to respond. "The North Pole does things kind of weird. They claim to care about soulmates, like our tribe does, but at the same time, they do arranged marriages. They have people lie about their soulmates so they can keep up the appearance of caring about the spirits, but they still ignore them." 

What kind of answer was that? "So you couldn't be together because… she had an arranged marriage?" 

"No!" He huffed, frustrated for some reason. Wasn't that what he was talking about? Her head hurt. "Well, yes, but that's not the big thing!"

"Then what  _ is  _ it, Sokka? I can't understand if you don't tell me!" She felt her resolve crumbling, her own frustration rising again. 

"She wasn't my soulmate, and I didn't care, but she  _ did." _ He explained. 

Suki's eyes widened. "Soulmates…? You actually know who yours is?" 

He nodded. "It's a long story." 

She waited for him to elaborate, but it seemed like he wasn't willing to continue. She tried a different approach, instead. "We hear stories of soulmates all the time on Kyoshi Island. In the stories, soulmates find each other by chance, or fate, whatever you want to call it. Like Kyoshi. Did you know Kyoshi had a soulmate?" 

Sokka shook his head. 

"Her name was Rangi."

"'Her'?" Sokka repeated. 

Suki smiled. "Sometimes people have soulmates the same gender as themselves. Not everyone's a manly-man like you, picking up all the ladies." She punched his arm, gently. 

Sokka laughed, nervous. He rubbed the back of his neck and couldn't meet her eye. "Yep, that's me! Manly ladies' man Sokka!" 

That was… definitely weird. "What's going on?" 

"Nothing! I just meant, yep, you got me! I love girls!" 

"Sokka…" Her tone was full of warning, narrowing her eyes at him. "What are you keeping from me?" 

"Nothing! ...Wait, I already tried that, didn't I?" He sighed, slumping. He held his head in his hands, hiding his face. "Our tribe does this ritual thing so you can meet your soulmate in your dreams. That way, everyone at least gets one chance to meet them. Usually, that doesn't happen 'til you're sixteen, but… a spirit showed me my soulmate the first time when I was eight."

She felt her eyes go wide. "Wow! So you know who she is- they are?" She corrected, remembering his weird response a moment ago. 

"Yeah… you remember, uh, the guy who attacked your village? The one with the scar?"

She nodded. "You had that weird conversation with him… wait, Sokka, you're not telling me-"

"Yep, that's him. Surprise!" He waved his hands, wiggling his fingers in a facetious mockery of celebration. 

"Oh, Sokka… that's why you felt like you couldn't tell me?"

He nodded. "That's… part of it."

Suki's hand found its way into Sokka's own, squeezing it firmly. "Well, your destiny is what you make of it. I know you wouldn't betray the people you love for a crazy firebender." She cracked a smile, intending the last part to be a joke, but he flinched, tugging his hand from her grip. 

"Yeah… yeah, of course." He sounded weird again, that un-Sokka-like flat tone back in his voice. She'd said something wrong, but what part of it? "Let's just get to sleep. We've got to get across the pass tomorrow." 

"Okay." It wasn't, but she let him go, anyway. She stayed for a while longer, bathed in the brilliant glow of the waning moon, and stewed. 

There was something big she was missing, something that wasn't adding up. He couldn't tell her about what happened at the North Pole, because the angry firebender was his soulmate? What was the thread? 

She  _ could  _ ask another member of the group for clarification, but Aang was upset about Appa, Katara was worrying over Aang, and she barely knew the earthbender, Toph. 

She'd have to get the information from Sokka, himself. She'd have to stop accidentally putting her foot in her mouth, first. 

\---

The guy, Lee, was  _ fantastic  _ with his blades. It was mesmerising, to the point that Smellerbee had to nudge Jet several times during their raid to get him to focus again. Spirits, how he wanted to goad Lee into sparring with him. 

Lee used a bunch of superfluous flourishes, his blades constantly moving, practically dancing with them. In battle, Jet was willing to bet the movements gave him a rock-solid defense, too quick and omnipresent to allow any returning blows. For the current purpose, the extraneous movement put the blades in the right position with the right angle and the right amount of weight behind the movement to do what needed doing. Like stacking up several of the guards' bento and tying them neatly for transport. It was fast, graceful, flawless. 

That wasn't military swordplay. This guy had had  _ years  _ of training, one-on-one training with a true master. That was the only explanation. A nobleman, then, with an expensive tutor?

The guy was a mystery, and Jet was hungry to learn more. 

Well, he was also just regular hungry, but they were already solving that. 

In and out without detection, the Freedom Fighters and their plus one delivered the fresh foodstuffs to the ferry passengers with little fuss, a merry buzz filling the air as they went.

Smellerbee was right. This end of things felt  _ really  _ good. As many ash-makers as there were out there, needing to be throttled, there were a hundred times as many people they'd hurt, needing to be kept afloat as the war raged on around them like an endless hurricane. 

The last of the meals delivered, the Freedom Fighters joined Lee and his uncle, Mushi, for their own portion. 

During the meal, Jet kept finding his eyes drawn to the boy's marred visage. He kept his head down, only glancing up when he was addressed directly. It was almost demure, the reserved posture, the sharp eyes shadowed under long, dark eyelashes. It was impossible not to stare. 

Jet found his eyes tracing the shape of the scarred flesh, mapping out the shape of the wound. It tore across the boy's handsome face, retreating past his hairline, where it interrupted the growth of new hair. The shell of the ear was ruined, but Jet knew from the quick reaction to soft-spoken commands during the raid that his hearing hadn't been compromised. Glancing along the edges of the discolored, shiny tissue, he got an idea of the kind of attack that caused the original wound. He'd seen enough burns to guess at their causes, but this one was unique. Evenly damaged, likely sustained contact. The kind of deep damage typical of branding, but too large to be from a tool. Four fingers and a thumb, from a hand just larger than his own. 

Some malicious, ash-eating bastard had held a burning hand to this guy's face, and he hadn't been able to fight back. 

Seeing Lee's aptitude with those blades, it wasn't much of a stretch to assume he had to have been bound to have been rendered helpless. The monster who did that to him had disarmed and bound a teenager and tormented him, just for the thrill of it. 

Jet nearly snapped his chopsticks in half imagining it. Regardless of Smellerbee's warnings, he knew he  _ had  _ to try to recruit the guy. He just had way too much in common with the Fighters to let this chance go. "Lee, can we talk? I'll meet you up at the front of the ship. There's a little private spot near the life boats." 

Lee's gaze shot up from his nearly-empty bento, his remaining eyebrow raising. The scarred eye stayed resolutely squinted, despite how wide the other went. "Me? Why?" 

"Just wanna talk about some stuff. Nothing bad." 

His eyes fell to his food again, but he nodded once, sharply. 

Jet downed the last of his tea and went to the rendezvous spot to wait, trusting Lee to be behind shortly. 

He didn't have to wait long, barely settling into a comfortable lean in the alcoved doorway before Lee appeared. It would have been startling if he hadn't been expecting him, the boy's footsteps completely soundless. 

"Hey." He greeted. 

Lee inclined his head as a reply, stepping into the shallow recess next to him. It was almost tight, barely any room for the two to stand comfortably here. Their knees tapped against one another as Lee mirrored his casual lean against the doorway. 

"What did you want to talk about?" Lee asked, diving straight to the point. 

"You know, as soon as I saw your scar, I knew exactly who you were." 

Lee flinched, angling his face away, as though trying to hide the glaring deformity. 

"The Fire Nation took everything from you. Just like they did to me, just like they did to Smellerbee and Longshot." He continued. Lee drew further into himself, probably reliving awful memories. "People like us, we have to stick together. We have to watch each others' backs, because there's no one else left to do it for us."

Lee relaxed a bit, tense expression turning more contemplative. "I've realized, lately, that being on your own isn't always the best path. Sometimes, letting other people help makes you stronger."

Jet fought back a grin. Seemed like they were on the same page, then. He reached a hand out, tugging Lee by the chin to face him. He found his eyes skating over the discolored tissue of the scar again, remembering his resolve. "I want you to join the Freedom Fighters."

Lee flinched, trying to pull away, but Jet kept his grip firm. "Thanks, but… I don't think you want me in your gang." 

"Come on, we made a great team back there. Think of all the good we can do for these people." He could see in Lee's eyes that he wasn't convinced, the boy's gaze still turned resolutely away. "Besides… I really want you to stick around." 

He took half a step closer, crowding Lee into the corner of the already small space. The boy tensed in alarm, eyes flicking up to meet Jet's again, finally. Jet slid his fingers along Lee's jaw, cupping his head just below the gnarled stump of his ear, thumb stroking the edge of the scar. Smooth and silky, but tough. 

"I'd really like for you to consider it." Jet whispered, leaning in close. There was no way Lee could misinterpret his intentions now, no explaining things away if he wasn't interested. 

Despite Jet's confidence in his own appeal, Lee stopped him at the last moment, putting a hand between their lips. "What are you doing?!" He hissed, good eye wide and searching. "People could see!" 

Was that his only complaint? Maybe Jet hadn't been too far off base. "So let them see." 

Lee sputtered, turning his head away, his unmarred cheek facing Jet and flushing a deep red. "I'd really rather not be  _ arrested  _ before we even reach the city!"

What? "Arrested?" 

"For breaking propriety law?" Lee hissed. At Jet's confused expression, his angry stance slumped, leaving him looking meek again. "Is this sort of thing… okay here?" 

Jet snorted. "Maybe some of the old fogeys might care, but it's not up to them."

"I just assumed this sort of thing was outlawed everywhere, I guess. It is back home." Lee admitted.

That was… weird. "Where did you say you were from, again?"

Lee tensed. "I didn't." He replied, taking a long pause before adding, "Omashu." 

His tone was uncertain, cracking a bit on the delivery. A lie, and a bad one. Well, Jet didn't know enough about Omashu to argue. The city-state had a batty old king, after all, so maybe he'd made some weird laws along the way. 

"Well, this is Ba Sing Se. And here, we can do whatever we want  _ with  _ whoever we want." He began to lean in again, feeling he'd solved the problem for them. For some reason, every second he  _ wasn't  _ making out with Lee was turning into agony. Every moment since he'd watched the boy smoothly, gracefully sheathe those twin blades, the burning in his gut grew hotter. This was his moment. His shot. 

Lee pushed him away. "I never said I wanted to." He growled. 

Jet groaned. "Come on! You let me get this far! Why not?!" 

"There's… someone else. Someone important to me." Lee claimed. 

"Oh, yeah?" Jet felt a flare of jealousy. "I bet I can make you forget all about them. Just give me a chance."

"No." Lee was insistent, hands pressed to Jet's chest, pushing him firmly away. "I'm going back to my uncle. I don't care what you do." 

The boy stalked away, forcing himself out of the small space and back to the deck proper. Impulsively, Jet snagged him by the elbow, tugging him back around. Catching him by the jaw again, he drew him in for that kiss, meeting his lips firmly, brooking no argument. 

As quickly as he'd initiated, he pulled away. "Just consider my offer. Please." 

He allowed Lee to tug out of his grip, watching him storm off. Jet had taken a risk with that one, but he felt pretty confident this one wouldn't come back to burn him. 

\---

The next day took them safely across the Pass, despite the efforts of the titular Serpent, and Suki reluctantly parted with the group. Sokka, though still recovering from his abrupt fainting spell upon seeing a live birth right before his eyes, approached her before she left. 

"Hey, before you go!" He took her hands in his, squeezing gently. "I wanted to apologize for how I've been acting."

"No, Sokka… I should be the one apologizing. I don't know what I said to upset you, but I really was just trying to understand. I shouldn't have made so many assumptions while we were talking… I didn't really let you explain."

"No, you didn't, but… really, I was making myself pretty hard to talk to. I was scared of what you'd think of me, if you knew the truth. So, I tried to let you come to your own conclusions, so I didn't have to admit anything and ruin whatever's between us. I care about you, and your opinion of me." 

Suki felt a little flame of hope stir in her chest. If that was all… she leaned in, letting her eyes flutter closed, expecting to be met halfway. 

"I'm sorry, Suki, but I can't." Sokka murmured, holding her back with gentle pressure on her collarbone. 

She flushed, pulling away from him, flushing brightly enough she wondered if it was visible through her makeup. "No, I'm sorry… I think I'm getting carried away…"

"Suki, listen. I like you, I really do. You're smart, and brave, and, like, crazy strong, but…"

"But what, Sokka? You're giving me a lot of mixed signals and it's making me so confused!" She knew she sounded petulant, and tried to calm down, but tears threatened to fall. 

"It just wouldn't be fair to you." 

"Because someone else is supposed to be your soulmate? Because you think the spirits know better than you what will make you happy?" 

"It's not like that! I  _ know  _ the spirits don't know squat, this isn't about them! It's-" He scratched his fingers through his hair, ruffling the usually-manicured ponytail. "I actually really, really like him, Suki." 

Now  _ that  _ she didn't expect. "You do? That guy?" She shook her head, the tassels on her headdress swinging along with the motion. "Not to be rude, but… what do you see in him?"

Sokka flushed, scratching through the short hair at the back of his head. "You kind of got to see the worst of him, didn't you…"

"That's an understatement." Suki crossed her arms, rolling her eyes hard enough to fall out of her head. Sokka looked so pitiful when he was contrite, though, so she forced a pleasant expression back on. "I get it. I'm not gonna lie, I wish things were different, but… if you really think he'll make you happy, I don't want to get in the way of that." 

Unexpectedly, Sokka's arms were around her, squeezing her into a tight embrace. "Thanks, Suki. I was really scared you wouldn't come around." 

She returned the tight hug, squeezing hard enough to pop his spine, before holding him at arm's length. "You just let me know if that big jerk does anything to hurt you. I'll be the first to knock some sense into him!"

The grin that split across his face suited him, far more than the various faces of guilt and anxiety he'd borne for most of the trip. It helped to soothe the pang in her heart at letting him go. 

She wasn't happy about it, might never be, but the happiness of the people she cared about was always more important to her, anyway. 

"I've gotta get back to the girls, now. I'm gonna see if some of them won't come with me to pick up Appa's trail." She pulled him into one more quick hug. "I hope we see each other again, soon."

"That'll be a big help. What would we do without you?" 

"Hmm, probably get eaten by giant sea serpents, based on your history." 

Sokka got a good chuckle out of that one, and she turned, grinning, to the others. Embracing each in turn, including Toph, who she'd grown quickly fond of, she headed off to the ferry station on this side, hoping to catch one back quickly. 

With luck, Appa would be easy to find and Aang would get to reunite with him quickly. Otherwise? 

The Kyoshi warriors were always on hand to create their own luck. 

\---

Jet caught up to Lee at the docks, snagging him by the wrist. The boy seemed wary, likely remembering the events of the night before, but Jet ploughed on ahead. "Have you reconsidered my offer?" 

"No, Jet. I haven't. I want to stay out of trouble here. My uncle deserves that much."

"And the other offer?" 

Lee tugged his wrist out of his grip. "Not a chance." He turned away, returning to his uncle's side. "A word of advice? Don't make promises you can't keep, and don't trust people you meet without knowing anything about them." 

Ooh, cryptic. "I'm disappointed. Hope I'll still see you around." 

"Goodbye."

Lee returned to Uncle Mushi, and Jet returned to his Fighters. Smellerbee was giving the duo a long, hard look, inspecting them. 

"Jet, you've been acting really weird. If you've just got a crush on the guy, why'd you go through all that trouble instead of just asking him out?" She asked, eyebrows furrowed so deeply he could see the wrinkles peek out under her headband. 

"What? I was serious about it! We really could use him as a Freedom Fighter." 

Smellerbee wasn't looking at him. "Oh, no…" She murmured.

Jet spun around, trying to catch whatever it was that she saw. 

He caught only a glimpse, but that's all it took. The tea, the same cup Mushi had been complaining about being, quote, 'the coldest tea in Ba Sing Se' just moments before, was now softly steaming. Lee smacked it to the ground, hissing something furiously to the old man. 

From the stone tiles, the tea gave off a last, weak puff of steam, before cooling rapidly once more. 

Only one kind of bending could do that. Waterbenders only made things colder, as he had very  _ personal _ experience with (it had taken them so long to break him out of Katara's ice, he had nearly passed out from the cold). Earthbenders had no domain over tea, and although he didn't know if Aang could heat tea, there were certainly no  _ other  _ airbenders running around.

Lee's cryptic warning suddenly made perfect sense. If not he himself, his uncle, at least, was firebending  _ scum.  _ A barbaric monster, destructive power at his fingertips.

Jet saw red. 

"No, Jet! Don't start a scene here! Come on, let's get inside the city. We can report it to the guards there!" Smellerbee begged. 

"Fine." He growled. 

He had no intention of letting some incompetent guards deal with this. It was personal, now. 


	22. City of Walls and Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alt title: sokkas love language is gift giving

Ba Sing Se was… weird. From the first moment the team entered the city, Sokka knew there was something fundamentally wrong here. 

"What, no parade? We just single-handedly stopped the Fire Nation from breaching the city!" He whined. 

"You can't expect a bunch of fanfare everywhere we go, you know." Katara rolled her eyes at him, like he was being childish. 

"It's true! We do this for the greater good, not for praise or recognition." Aang added, putting on his 'wise monk' voice. 

"Nah, I'm with the Princess on this one." Toph grumbled. "Nobody's even talking about it. Shouldn't this be kind of a big deal?" 

Sokka didn't even have time to argue with the humiliating nickname, as they were approached by an unnerving woman named Joo Dee and 'handled', as Toph called it. She forced them on an exhausting tour, which mostly taught them that the citizens of Ba Sing Se were extremely classist, that the city was ruled by extremely strict laws, and that speaking of the war was absolutely forbidden. By the time they were left alone, the hour grew late, and they had little choice but to head to bed. 

Ba Sing Se did have one redeeming quality, though, as Sokka soon found out.

As he drifted off to sleep that night, warm in an unnecessarily cushy bed, he was greeted by Jin Lu. The great deer stood outside his bedroom window, peering in through the fogged glass. Through whatever spirit magic Jin Lu possessed, Sokka stepped through the wall. 

Shockingly, they didn't travel very far to reach their destination. They only travelled past the inner walls, arriving in a cramped apartment in the lower ring. 

"Here?" He asked, but the spirit was already gone. 

"Sokka?" 

Even though he should have expected it, Zuko's familiar voice was still startling. Sokka whirled back around to face him. 

"You're here!" He cheered. 

Zuko looked confused. He sat down on the small bed, making room for Sokka to sit next to him. "Of course I am? This is a spirit dream, isn't it? Why wouldn't I be here?" 

Sokka took the offered seat, folding a leg up underneath himself to face Zuko more easily. "Not 'here' in the dream, 'here' in Ba Sing Se!"

His golden eyes widened unevenly, single eyebrow raising. "You guys are in the city, too?"

"Yeah! We're… uh…" Sokka hesitated. Zuko had promised not to hunt them, but how much could he tell him?

"Sokka, do you- do you not trust me?" Zuko's voice sounded small, almost wounded. Like a kicked polar puppy. 

"No! I mean, yes! Of course I do, it's just… we're here to see the Earth King about war stuff. I wasn't sure if the old rule still applied, after- you know, after everything." It was enough of the truth that he didn't stumble over it. Having been so open with one another for so long had made them both absolutely terrible liars. 

"Oh." Zuko replied. His gaze flicked away, expression tight with emotion. "I guess it makes sense. I couldn't promise to betray my nation for you. It'd be stupid to give me that kind of information."

He was right, of course, but Sokka felt like a knife was being twisted in his gut. "Zuko, this isn't about trust or betrayal or anything like that, okay? I just… I just don't want us to end up arguing again." He tilted his head, trying to catch Zuko's eye. "Can we just talk?" 

"Sure… yeah, actually. I think I'd like that." 

Despite Zuko's hesitation, the two ended up falling easily into the old pattern of banter, easily filling hours with chatter. Sokka told him all about the various silly detours the team had gone on, riding hog-monkeys, riding Elephant Koi, starting a groundhog band. Zuko, in turn, chattered about his uncle, trying (and failing) to remember his various jokes and proverbs. The first rays of the sun began to peek into the windows of the narrow apartment before Sokka had even realized time was passing. 

A heavy snort from an enormous snout drew their attention. Jin Lu peeked through the windows, anxiously tamping his many hooves. 

"Guess that's all the time we get…" Zuko murmured, reluctantly. 

"Wait!" Sokka insisted, turning back to Zuko with wide eyes. "Did you find the flower?" 

"Oh, uh, yeah." Zuko flushed, to the tips of his ears, down to his collarbones. "I, uh, I guess you made good on your promise? To, uh, to write me poetry." 

Sokka's jaw hung open in shock. "You remember that? We were, what…"

"I was about to turn eleven. I, uh, guess I can't really blame you for not following through then, considering…" Considering his grandfather's death, his mother's disappearance, and his father's coup, he didn't say. 

"Well, I... I picked that flower for you. I mean, it reminded me of you. It was… well, I wrote about it, why it was like you, but, uh… there was this couple, at the fortune-teller's village. The girl said she'd find her soulmate because he'd give her a panda lily, so Aang wanted one, and then when we got there- anyway, it's yours. It's for you. Because- because I was thinking of you. So." 

Despite the fact that Zuko looked nearly catatonic, and like he'd burst into flames any second, Sokka had trouble stemming the relentless flow of babble. It felt important, suddenly, to explain himself fully, but he realized as he did so that he didn't quite understand himself fully. Or, rather, that he wasn't quite ready to face an important facet that would make it all make sense. 

Zuko, though, seemed to come to his own conclusions. He held a hand to his mouth, hiding his expression, but his wild eyes and red skin said enough. "You, uh, those poems, then… they were all about me? Even the, uh, the one-" 

"Yeah." Sokka croaked out. "Yeah, it was stupid. I was being stupid. Listen, the big deer says I have to go, so…"

"Will you visit me?" Zuko blurted, seeming surprised by his own words.

Sokka swallowed, still catching up to the change in topic after the brutal embarrassment moments before. "You know I don't get to make that call-"

"I mean at work. In the real world. Not here." 

"You- at work? You have a job?" That was… weird to think about. The fugitive Prince of the enemy nation, working a day job?

"It's called the Pao Family Tea Shop. It's here in the Lower Ring. Uh, I guess ask around for directions. I don't know how well-known it is…" He suddenly seemed uncertain. "Will you? Visit, I mean?" 

Sokka nodded, fast enough to make himself dizzy. "Yeah! Yeah, I'll try." 

It seemed Jin Lu had run out of patience, because the world around him began to fade into the dingy street below. Before he even caught his bearings, the great deer loped away, moving quickly. 

"Okay, okay, I get it! I'm coming!" He shouted. 

Yeah, Ba Sing Se had one redeeming quality. 

Zuko was here.

\---

"Jet, come on! It was just hot tea! What's the big deal!" Smellerbee pressed, anxiously trying to stop their leader from his mad pursuit. 

"I don't  _ care  _ if it was 'just tea', Smellerbee! Firebenders are firebenders, end of story! If this is our one chance to corner them before they  _ kill people,  _ I think we're allowed to jump the gun a little!" He stomped further into the alleyway, stopping too close to the exit to be secretive. Smellerbee hung back alongside Longshot, sharing a glance with him. 

"You can't even be sure that's what we saw. Maybe he got a new, hot cup while we weren't looking." She tried. 

"No. Lee threw it out of his hand. Why would he do that if it was just tea? I'm telling you, he knew it would blow their cover!" 

"Maybe it was poisoned?" She knew it was a weak attempt. She knew Jet was right. The two refugees were already odd from the moment they met them, too standoffish with the other passengers, too secretive about their pasts. Not to mention, the unnatural color of Lee's eyes. Jet had missed it, too busy checking the boy out or staring at his scar, but Smellerbee had clocked them right away. She'd tried to warn Jet, in a way, but it hadn't been emphatic enough. 

"Bee, I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're just being cautious so we don't get caught by the guards. That said, if you keep trying to make excuses for them, I'll have to assume those  _ traitors  _ with the Avatar poisoned your mind, and you're  _ sympathising  _ with the damn ash-makers now. Which will it be?" 

Smellerbee snapped her mouth shut fast enough for her teeth to clack together. Not trusting Jet enough to speak when he was like this, she shared a glance with Longshot. His gaze held a steady certainty she did not feel. She shook her head, looking back at Jet. 

"I'm gonna keep an eye on them, for now. Like I said, no need to antagonize the guards until we have tangible proof. I'll let you guys know if I need you to back me up. Sound good?"

"Sure, Jet. Whatever you say." 

\--- 

For the next week, Sokka tried to find a chance, an excuse, to slip away to the Lower Ring, but it was futile. Aang needed to find Appa, and Joo Dee insisted on escorting them everywhere, no matter what. This meant she supervised every interaction, set up every encounter, and Sokka was certain she was somehow telling the people they spoke with what they could and could not say. Not that he could prove that last part, as she just flashed her too-wide smile when he glanced over at her, but his gut told him it was definitely happening. 

It wasn't until Aang ran out of places to check, giving them a free morning, that Sokka took the chance to slip out. 

"Hey, guys, I'm- uh, I'm gonna head to the Middle Ring. Do some shopping. I wanna get some new Earth Kingdom digs so we can fit in in the city better." He tried, scooting towards the door. 

As usual, Katara was too sharp to be fooled. "Oh? Well, then, we'd better come with you, right? So we can all pick out new clothes?" 

"No!" He said, too fast. Quick, think of something! "Actually, I really need to go  _ alone _ , you know, because, uh…" 

"He's probably going to buy fancy gifts for his royal boyfriend. Let him go." Toph waved a hand dismissively, otherwise not moving from her comfortable lounging position. 

It was too close to the truth. Sokka flushed dark, dark enough for Katara to notice. "Really, Sokka?! You're going to leave while we're in the middle of searching for Appa, just to go buy trinkets for Zuko?!"

"What? It's not like any of our searching has turned up anything! Until we figure out how to get around Joo Dee, we won't find  _ anything _ !" He pointed out. 

"I can't  _ believe  _ you!" 

"Katara-"

"Go! Just go! I don't even care!" 

Meekly, Sokka slipped through the door, heading out onto the street. A small amount of change jingled in his pocket, certainly not enough to  _ actually  _ buy any trinkets, but that wasn't the plan. Although, if he  _ did  _ happen across a promising market… No! He was going to visit Zuko like he promised! 

Joo Dee nowhere in sight, considering they hadn't told her of any plans today, Sokka was able to make his way to the train unencumbered. 

From there, he just needed to travel to the right part of the Lower Ring, and… hmm… He checked the map of the city, running a finger along the various train routes. Where had the spirit led him? Directions were always a little weird between the dreams and reality, the Spirit World distorting space just enough to be disorienting. He was relatively certain the spirit had led him… this way, to the Southwest. Which meant he needed… this train? 

Nowhere near certain of his bearings, he took off, his Upper Ring papers granting him free reign of the city. It was… weird, to be treated as nobility here. They'd been 'honored guests' before, sure, but that was always short-term, and with limited accommodations. This was more like… like they'd been planning to receive the Avatar for an extended period of time for quite a while. Just another thing unnerving about this place. 

The train let off in the Lower Ring, the station considerably more crowded here, and Sokka started asking around. 

At first, he asked for the specific tea shop Zuko had mentioned, but it didn't seem to ring any bells for anyone he asked. Switching up his approach, he asked for 'good tea shops nearby'. This got him several 'recommendations' for a little place, no one could remember the name of it, but there were new hires and the tea was absolutely fantastic. They all mentioned being unaware of the place only days before, but that it was their new go-to. 

That  _ had  _ to be Uncle Iroh, working his tea-related magic. Maybe he was actually a tea-bender? 

Chuckling to himself at his own bad joke, Sokka followed the vague directions he'd been given until finally, well past midday, he finally arrived at the little shop. The sign bore the name Zuko had mentioned, in faded text, and the building was in dire need of repair, but inside it was lively. 

He took a table when one finally freed up, glancing about to try and find the undoubtedly-conspicuous waiter among the chaotic crowd.

A movement from the back of the shop caught his eye, and he caught sight of Zuko, dressed in Earth Kingdom greens, an oversized apron tied tightly around his waist, ducking under the cloth banners blocking the kitchen from the dining area. The boy carried two trays, one full of cups and the other lined with three steaming teapots, and bustled around to the tables. After dropping off the first teapot, along with assorted cups, he moved on to the table nearest Sokka's. Sokka waved, an enormous grin splitting across his face, and Zuko dropped both trays to the table, ignoring the confused shouts of the customers there and throwing his arms around Sokka's waiting shoulders. 

"Sokka! You really came! I was starting to think you wouldn't." Zuko murmured into his neck. 

The vibration of his voice so close sent a thrill down Sokka's spine, prompting him to squeeze Zuko a little tighter. "Yeah, you didn't exactly make it easy to find! I had to ask everyone for directions, you know! Luckily, your uncle really does make the best tea on the planet." He finally relaxed his grip, holding Zuko at arm's length. "Hey, buddy. It's good to see you." 

Zuko laughed, the rare sound turning Sokka's knees to putty and his heart into a swarm of butterflies. "It's good to see you, too. Sit, sit. You kind of came during our afternoon rush…" 

"I get it. Go on, do your thing. I can wait." He waved Zuko off, making a big show of looking over the menu stand at the table. Zuko complied, puttering off. Sokka glanced up, sneaking surreptitious glances at him. He bustled between tables awkwardly, obviously overwhelmed by the number of people, but between the fun atmosphere and the good tea, most of the customers were unusually good-tempered about it. He first fixed his mistake, retrieving the extraneous teapot from the nearby table and sending it where it actually went, before moving on to taking orders from the tables that sat down while he spoke with Sokka. 

Entranced by watching him work (the apron was cute, what could he say!), Sokka hardly noticed a full hour pass before Zuko finally returned to him. 

"Hi." He said, a bit breathless. "We usually have a lull during dinnertime, when people go eat real meals, but we'll be busy again around sundown. I don't get off until we close, so…" 

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'll get out of your hair. I'll be back before you're done for the night." 

Zuko sighed, slumping into the table. "Thanks. It's really crazy here. Who knew serving was this hard?!" 

"Hmm, probably all of your servants back at the palace." Sokka joked, tapping a finger in mock-consideration at his lips. 

Zuko shot him an unimpressed glare, then seemed to remember himself, glancing hastily around them. Assured that the shop was mostly empty, he leaned in and whispered conspiratorially. "We're just refugees, remember? Don't go around making those jokes!" 

"Okay, okay,  _ your highness _ ." He grinned, seeing Zuko groan in exasperation.

"And another thing- while we're here, my name is Lee, okay?" 

"Lee?" Sokka snickered. "You picked the single most common name?  _ That's  _ not suspicious at all. Don't tell me your uncle's going by 'Lee', too!"

Zuko- whoops, Lee flushed, glancing back at the kitchen. "Mushi, actually. It's a long story."

"Is it really? Because I think it's a short one- 'Zuko sucks at lying', end of story." 

"Lee!" He hissed the reminder, but didn't contradict the point. "Now, get out of here. People are coming and we need the table." 

"Yeah, yeah, alright. You're so rude! It's like you don't even love me!" 

Sokka regretted the word choice as soon as he said it, both of them flushing in synch with one another. 

"Okay, bye." He sputtered, rushing out of the shop. Zuko- Lee didn't respond, turning to take orders already. 

His good ear was a brilliant crimson.

\---

Sokka had wandered the streets of the Lower Ring for a long time, watching the sun slowly set. He was glad he'd brought his boomerang out of habit, seeing several armed men grow restless in the alleyways. He knew he didn't look  _ rich,  _ but he did look obviously foreign, and that meant a lot of those guys would see him as an easy target. 

Keeping one eye on potential danger, he kept the other on the shops as he passed. Remembering the few coins jingling in his pocket, and his original professed reason for leaving this morning, he scanned the shops' wares for trinkets. What kinds of things would Zuko like? Something shiny? Something practical? He'd never had the opportunity to get him a real, physical gift before, so he wanted it to be special… 

While browsing through a collection of woven jewelry (maybe something with a blue stone? Would that be too much?), a woman hawking for her own shop next door shouted him down. 

"Buying something for your girlfriend, dear? I make the tastiest sweets in town, she'll love one of my cakes!" 

"Oh, no, it's not for a- did you say sweets?" 

One thing led to another, and he was suddenly out all of his meager coin and laden with a sack of Earth Kingdom pastries he didn't recognize, but that the baker insisted would satisfy any sweet tooth. The setting sun was barely spitting out its last rays, bathing the streets in a reddish glow and casting long shadows. It had to be late enough, right? Now he just needed to find his way back to the shop…

\---

"Jet, we need to talk." Smellerbee insisted, interrupting yet another night of surveillance. While she and Longshot had been working odd jobs and volunteering their time for the other refugees of the city, Jet had not left his self-appointed post stalking Lee and his uncle. "We think you're becoming obsessed with this." She continued, indicating Longshot, beside her. "It's not healthy!"

"Oh, really?" Jet huffed, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall behind him. It was a clear prelude to aggression, in their experience with him. "You both think this?"

Longshot backed her up, placing a steady hand on her shoulder. 

"We came here to help people, Jet. Even if those guys  _ are  _ firebenders-"

"They are!" Jet snapped, cutting her off. "You saw it!" 

" _ Even if  _ they are, and you still don't have proof of that… they're living peacefully. There's plenty of other people that have actually been hurt who need our help. Stalking these guys isn't helping anyone!" 

"All those people you're talking about helping have been hurt  _ by  _ the Fire Nation! The same place these guys are from! What part of that isn't getting through to you?!" 

Jet was getting that manic look in his eye again, the kind that  _ used  _ to fire up the Fighters. It was the look that said his zeal for fighting was boiling over, that he was concocting a plan to make the Fire Nation pay. 

In this context, especially after the mad plan that had led to the destruction of the hideout? It was just scary. 

"I guess you two have made your choice, though. I'm going to get the evidence I need myself. I don't need you two slowing me down." 

"Jet…" She tried, but it was useless. Blades drawn, he stalked toward the quiet little tea shop. 

Longshot squeezed her shoulder, drawing her attention. He nodded toward the back of the alleyway, where the shadows were thicker. The meaning was clear: 'Let's hide and wait. We can't stop him, and we can't afford to get caught up in whatever he's planning. We can lay low here and keep an eye on him.' 

She nodded. "Okay… you're right. You're always right." 

A tiny smirk twitched across Longshot's usually-stoic face. A familiar warmth spread through her, always proud to be the one to make him express himself. Even if Jet was a lost cause, at least she and Longshot had each other. 

\---

The tea shop was still pretty busy by the time Sokka found himself inside again, and he hovered awkwardly by the door, afraid to take up a table during a rush again. Uncle Iroh was doing amazing things for this little place, and they could barely keep up as-is. 

Luckily, Zu- Lee noticed him pretty quickly, expression visibly brightening as he did, and the waiter yelled back into the kitchen. "Uncle! I'm gonna take that break, now!" 

"Finally! I've been trying to get you to rest for a while now… wait, is Sokka back?" Uncle Iroh- that is, Uncle Mushi peeked out of the kitchen just in time to see Lee slide the empty tray in his hands onto the one remaining empty table and rush over to their guest. "Of course. So bullheaded, this one…" 

A guard, sitting at the table nearest him, chuckled at Lee's antics. 

Sokka elected to ignore them both. He held up the parcel, wiggling it a little to show it off. "Brought you something." He sang. 

"You didn't have to…" Lee muttered, but still reached for the sack. 

"It's some sweets from a bakery down the street. I don't know what any of them are, since, you know, pastries don't do well in the arctic, but the lady told me they were her best-sellers. You like sweets, right? You told me once they help you keep your energy up when you're bending, and you were kind of literally starving the last time I saw you-"

"Sokka. You're rambling." Lee peeked into the sack, eyeing the treats over. "Thank you for these. I can't believe you remembered something like that." 

"Of course I did! What, do you think I don't listen when you talk or something?" Sokka hoped he sounded confident, because he was suddenly extremely self-conscious about how much detail he carefully memorized from their encounters. Was it really that weird? 

Lee looked like he was about to respond, but was cut off by the sound of the door slamming open, revealing a furious Jet framed in the entryway. His hooked blades were drawn, and he spun them with menace. 

"Arrest these men! They're firebend- Sokka?!" 

Jet was startled out of his stance momentarily as Sokka waved nervously at him. Lee glanced between them, stepping in front of Sokka and shielding him with his free hand. 

"You know this guy?" Lee and Jet asked Sokka simultaneously. It was almost funny, in that way that everything's a little funnier when you're terrified. 

"I see what's happening now." Jet laughed, relaxing back into his unusual fighting stance. "I knew you were a damned traitor, but a firebender  _ boyfriend _ ?! That's lower than I ever expected from you." 

"Hey, he's not-" Sokka tried, but Jet cut him off.

"Don't even try to deny it! He told me as much himself." Jet growled, leveling one of his blades at Lee's face. 

"Did- did you really?" Sokka asked him. Lee flushed, glancing away from them both. The patrons of the shop watched with interest, including the pair of guards seated near Uncle Mushi, hands on their blades. 

"Uh, I just told him there was someone who was important to me." Lee admitted. 

"Enough chitchat, Lee! Face me like a man! Or are you scared you can't beat me without your  _ bending _ ?" Jet goaded. 

"Stand down, son." One of the guards ordered, standing slowly. 

Lee handed the pastries back to Sokka, then crossed the aisle to reach the guard. "Let me take care of this. He's my problem." 

To Sokka's shock, the guard handed over his weapons without a fuss. With a flourish, Lee separated the twin blades, assuming his own stance. "Take this outside, Jet. I'm the one that'll have to clean up any mess we make in here." 

Jet did not obey, lunging for him. Lee danced back, nimbly hopping up onto a table, which Jet smashed to pieces in his fury. Lee winced, looking, forlorn, at the ruined table, and used his next parry to dance around behind Jet. As expected, in his blind rage, he pursued, throwing Lee out of the building and into the streets. It was a smarter tactic than Sokka would usually give him credit for, but he did have some pretty powerful motivation to avoid extra-long work hours.

Sokka followed Uncle Mushi outside, pushing through the gawking patrons to keep an eye on the battle. Watching their twisting, dancing movements closely, both boys evenly matched in speed and dexterity, Sokka calculated his angle, drawing his boomerang in preparation. 

"Sokka, don't!" Lee ordered, Jet nearly gutting him in his distraction. 

"You need help! I can do this!" Sokka insisted. Why did everyone underestimate him?!

"You  _ know  _ what happens when you try to defend me!" Lee reminded him and, oh, good point. If Jet was this angry about their supposed firebending, seeing someone he already hated  _ actually  _ firebending, even accidentally, would definitely set him off. 

"You don't have time to flirt! Focus on me!" Jet snapped, swinging one blade using the tip of the other. Lee deftly stabbed through the grip with one dao, pinning it. 

"Make yourself into a challenge, then." He bit back, swinging the remaining dao towards Jet's face. It was a near miss, the boy having only the narrowest window in which to dodge, the ever-present sprig between his teeth taking the brunt of the damage. Good riddance.

Jet hopped away, putting distance between the two of them. Lee waited, poised with the remaining sword like it was never part of a set, watching his opponent carefully. 

Jet's eyes flicked to Sokka. "You know, I almost wish you  _ had  _ cut my tongue out with that swipe. I haven't been able to wash the taste of that kiss out of my mouth, no matter how hard I try." 

"Kiss?!" Sokka yelped. 

" _ You  _ kissed  _ me! _ " Lee shouted back. "I told you no!" 

"He  _ what?! _ " Sokka's gaze flicked between them. Jet was still looking at him, for some reason, despite talking to Lee.

"Oh, please. I could tell you wanted it. You're more than strong enough to push me away if you really meant it." 

Before he knew it, smoke was pouring out of his nose with every breath. "You can't talk to him like that!" Sokka shouted, sparks chasing his words. Where his hand gripped the boomerang, small flames skittered forth, dancing along the blade. 

Jet's eyes widened. The light of the fires danced in his dark irises. Sokka cursed, getting his breath under control, but the damage had been done. 

"You're a firebender…" Jet sounded like the wind had been knocked out of him, like he was struggling to process this new information. " _ You're  _ a firebender?!" His voice regained its usual bite, the familiar rage sparking in his eyes once more. "Well, aren't you two  _ ash-makers  _ perfect for each other!"

"Didn't I warn you?" Lee hissed, glancing over his shoulder. 

Taking the momentary lapse in focus as an opportunity, Jet leapt forward, swinging his remaining blade, only to be stopped mid-swing with a loud clang as his weapon was grabbed firmly in a stone hand. 

"Drop your weapons." The Dai Li agent ordered, staring Jet down. Behind him, two identically-dressed men stepped forward, trained on Lee and Sokka, respectively. 

Only Lee obeyed, letting the remaining dao clatter to the earth, holding up his empty hands, palms out. He nodded to Sokka, sending a pointed glance at the boomerang. "We were only defending ourselves." He claimed. 

"We saw the whole thing." The guard from whom he'd borrowed the dual dao stepped forward. "This boy barged into this shop and assaulted the finest tea-maker in the city." 

Uncle Mushi blushed at the compliment, apparently unphased by the appearance of the Dai Li. 

"Because he's a firebender! All three of them are! They're trying to take the city for the Fire Nation!" Jet insisted, kicking his legs at the agents. 

The agent that had trained on Sokka stepped forward, and he finally let the boomerang clatter to the ground, as well. "Anything to say for yourselves?" 

"Um, firebending? What? That's ridiculous!" Sokka laughed nervously, glancing between the Dai Li's earthen hands and his stony expression. "I'm pretty clearly from the Water Tribes, as you can tell-" 

"We saw enough. You'll come with us, as well." The agent replied flatly. 

Okay, maybe that was playing a little  _ too  _ dumb. Sokka's hands were encased in rock, restraining him in the same manner as Jet was, and the agent led him to an armored carriage. Two agents were straining to force Jet inside, as he refused to go willingly, but between the three agents, both teenagers were tossed into the mobile cell. 

Jet immediately tried to lunge for Sokka again, and more rocks skittered around to bind him to the bars of the windows. 

"I should've killed you when I had the chance." Jet snarled. "I knew, I fucking  _ knew  _ you were bad news. I could tell from the second I saw you! I don't know how you kept your firebending from us-" 

"Hey, I didn't know I could do it, yet-" Sokka tried, but Jet kept going. 

"But you were always,  _ always  _ on the side of the ash-makers. Not us, never us."

"You don't know anything, Jet. If you'd just be  _ reasonable  _ for once and  _ listen _ -"

"I don't need to listen to any garbage you're spitting!  _ You're _ one of those fucking monsters, your fucking  _ boyfriend  _ is one of those fucking monsters, you  _ poisoned  _ Smellerbee and Longshot-"

"What the hell does that mean? I haven't even seen them since-"

"They didn't think it was a 'big deal' that there were two  _ literal firebenders  _ in the city! 'The old man was just heating his tea', she said, like it wasn't  _ proof _ of what they are! 'They're living peacefully', she said! Firebenders  _ can't  _ live peacefully! Destruction is burned into their blood! Into  _ your  _ blood!" A flash of realization crossed through Jet's wild eyes suddenly, his skin turning green. "Wait, if you're… does that mean your sister…?"

Sokka could barely believe what he was being asked. "You… you  _ know  _ she's a waterbender." 

Jet was irate, for some reason. Well, he'd been livid for the entire encounter, but the renewed vigor was uncalled for, considering Sokka had just answered the question. "I get  _ that,  _ you dumbass! I mean your parents, are they- she said the Fire Nation killed your mom in a raid."

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Way to be sensitive about it…" He muttered under his breath. "Our family's Water Tribe, all the way back. I'm just special."

Jet sneered. "What, is firebending contagious or something?" 

"Ha ha. That's… not too far off, actually. It's kind of a soulmate thing." 

"Okay, now you're just making fun of me." Jet snapped. "Fine. I don't want to hear anything you have to say, anyway."

_ You're the one who asked…  _ Sokka thought bitterly, but relished the ensuing silence. 

\---

The carriage jostled onward, carrying the two teenagers an indeterminate distance before they found themselves underground. 

Jet was taken somewhere first, and Sokka watched him dragged away kicking and screaming with no small amount of apprehension. 

"Come with me." The remaining agent ordered, and Sokka went quietly. At least, on the outside. Inside, he was memorizing their route and any remarkable details they passed. So far, the place seemed too full of Dai Li and too bereft of exits (how had they come in?) to properly formulate an escape plan, but Sokka was nothing if not resourceful.

The agent led him to a small room, windowless, with a single chair in the center. He was instructed to sit, and did so, and was shackled to the chair by spring-loaded metal handcuffs. 

"You are here to be interrogated. So long as you are cooperative, you will come to no harm. Do you understand?" The agent asked, tone betraying nothing. 

"Sure thing." Sokka agreed, knowing full well that he was a terrible liar and had a pretty big secret to hide.

"Excellent. Tell us what happened at that restaurant tonight." 

Open-ended enough. "Uh, that guy, Jet, came in yelling about firebenders. A guard lent Lee his swords and they fought, and I stepped in to protect Lee." 

The agent nodded along. 

"Um, will Lee be okay? He didn't do anything wrong." 

The agent took a long time to answer. "Eyewitness accounts agree with your and your friend's story. It is unlikely extreme measures will be necessary." He finally offered. "Now, you are here because witnesses, our agents included, saw you bend fire. We seek reassurance that you pose no threat to our great city."

"Oh! Is that all?"

"That is all." 

"Well, then." Sokka considered. He needed his story to be enough of the truth that he could tell it easily, but not so much that Zuko was found out. He wasn't sure what the Dai Li were capable of, but the underground labyrinth sure painted a nasty picture. "I'm here with the Avatar, as you guys know."

He nodded. Sokka continued. 

"Um, I'm actually traveling with him, uhhh, as his firebending teacher! Yeah! All his friends are training him in various elements, and, you know, friendly firebenders are hard to come by, and I was already on board because my sister's teaching him waterbending, so even though I'm not very good at it, I'm the fire guy!" 

The agent waved forward another, one who appeared to emerge directly out of the wall, and they conferred in whispers for a moment. 

"Your account does not… contradict our intelligence." He said, testy. It was the first time the monotone broke. Sokka was on thin ice, apparently. "However, this does not explain how a member of the Water Tribes came to be able to bend fire." 

"Oh, that? That's a soulmate thing, actually. Bending sharing." 

"Soulmates? We remind you that we expect the full, unadulterated truth from you." 

"Yeah, and this is that! I have proof, if you need it. You know, back at the big fancy house you put the Avatar and friends into. A big old textbook about soulmates that I got from Wan Shi Tong's Library." 

"A textbook on soulmates… from a mythical spirit library."

"Yep." He loudly popped the final consonant. "Avatar stuff, man. We end up in crazy spirit shenanigans all the time." 

The agents murmured to one another once more, until a third, more nervous-looking agent joined the conversation. The interrogator's eyes widened. 

"Long Feng has requested you." He informed Sokka, releasing the metal shackles, the stone cuffs remaining. "You will come with us."

"Wait, does that mean I passed?" He needed some sort of reassurance that he wasn't about to be imprisoned on a more permanent basis. 

Unfortunately, the Dai Li were not in the business of reassurance, and the journey was silent. 

\---

"Sokka!" Katara threw her arms around him the moment he entered the room. He nearly toppled, arms still restrained. "Wait, do you have handcuffs…?" She stepped back a bit to take him in. At the same time, he had a moment to take  _ her  _ in, too. Looking like a fancy lady, who knew she had it in her? The dress looked expensive, and this was definitely the first time he'd  _ ever  _ seen her wear makeup- hell,  _ he  _ wore makeup more than she did! Granted, that was for the Kyoshi warrior traditional garb, but still.

"Release him." The man who had been speaking to Aang and the others when he arrived had an authoritative voice, and the agents obeyed his commands. "Now that I have you all together, Joo Dee can take you home."

An unfamiliar woman with a familiar giant grin stepped through the door.

\---

Zuko was a flurry of activity as he arrived at the apartment that night, pacing relentlessly. "I  _ have  _ to go after him, Uncle!" He insisted, nearly tearing his short hair out at the roots. 

"That would be ill-advised, Nephew." The old man retorted, setting a small flame for the old kettle. "The Dai Li are an extensive network of highly-trained professionals. Even if you  _ were  _ to successfully rescue him, which I strongly doubt, your friend would be a fugitive here. Better for them to release him on their own terms."

"But what if they don't?! What if they execute him for bending?! For using  _ my  _ bending, because we're  _ spiritually bonded,  _ which makes it  _ my  _ fault he got taken in the first place?!" Zuko finally found his dao, tucked away in a corner beneath his spare clothing, and tied the belt in place across his hips. 

"It is no fault of yours, Nephew, and you mustn't take responsibilities that are not yours."

What did  _ he  _ know, anyway?! Except pretty much everything, Zuko was coming to realize, as Uncle revealed more and more frequently that his doddering old man routine was little more than a veneer. Whatever. This was Zuko's responsibility, no matter what he said, and he was going to go through with this.

"Besides, do you think he would be  _ pleased  _ to see you risk yourself needlessly? Or do you believe it would do him more good to see you in chains, as well?"

Zuko's fingers twitched, losing his grip on the blue-lacquered mask. "I just have to be careful not to get caught." He insisted, but his voice was as uncertain as his heart, and he recalled his many other occasions of breaking into secure locations only to have no safe way back out.

"Come, have a cup of tea. I've made chamomile." 

"...Thank you, Uncle."

\---

"Okay, what the hell happened to you?!" Katara hissed the moment the new 'Joo Dee' dropped them off at their Upper Ring home. "Why were you in handcuffs?!"

"It's a long story."

"Then tell it!" Katara's hands on her hips tipped him off to how upset she was getting, even if the layers of makeup on her face made her expression falsely pleasant. 

"Jet's in the city." He told her, skipping over several important details that would probably upset her. Not that this one would make her happy. "He doesn't exactly remember me fondly. He attacked me in the street and we both got arrested." 

"Jet?! Where?!" It was lucky, really, that they were nowhere near either pole. Or that she was a waterbender instead of an earthbender. The house stayed impressively intact. 

"In the Lower Ring. I was visiting a tea shop with a lot of recommendations there when he saw me." 

"Ugh, that absolute piece of shit! I'm so pissed that I wasn't there, what I wouldn't give to wring his slimy neck!"

"Who's Jet?" Toph interjected. "Aside from another name on the 'wants to kill us' list no one updates me about, of course."

"A creep and a jerk!" Katara snapped. 

"He's really… zealous. He tried to kill a lot of innocent people in order to take out a few Fire Nation soldiers." Aang explained more fully. "And he tricked us into helping."

"Wow, that  _ is  _ pretty messed up. I get where you're coming from, now."

"I'm glad you agree, Toph, because I'm about to march straight to that tea shop and-"

"No!" Sokka said, too quickly. "I mean, uh… Like I said, he was also arrested. It'd be a waste of a trip."

Katara narrowed her eyes, but her hostile posture straightened. "Fine. Good. I hope he stays locked up for as long as he deserves."

"You know, it's too bad you weren't around today, even if you had a good excuse. You know, being arrested and all." Toph asserted. 

"Why? Where did you go? ...And why are you both dressed so fancy?" Especially since Aang  _ wasn't.  _ He was dressed as usual, although he'd been wearing a stolen uniform when they met up. 

"The king's pet bear had a birthday party. We weren't invited, of course, but why would that stop us?" Toph cackled. 

"Bear?" Sokka asked. 

Katara shook her head. "We've been over this. It's very weird. Just move on."

"Anyway, a fancy party like this… it would've been nice to have a Princess there, you know."

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Great. This was all a setup to the same bad punchline. Great work everyone."

"No, I'm serious! You probably know at least a couple  _ basic  _ things about high society. Even if Fire Nation nobility stuff doesn't exactly translate over, it's better than the monk or the girl from the snow hut."

"Hey! Sokka  _ also  _ grew up in an igloo, for your information!" Katara jabbed a finger in Toph's direction, pointlessly. 

"Yeah, and his bestie was a  _ prince. _ Tell me that's not an upgrade from what I had to deal with tonight!" Toph bemoaned. 

"Katara couldn't have been  _ that  _ bad! She's very good at being polite and pretty!" Aang complimented. 

"Thank you." Katara preened. Gross. 

"Zuko didn't exactly teach me table manners. I think this was probably for the best." Sokka claimed, interrupting himself with a yawn. "Oh, man, I'm beat. Bed sounds so nice right now. Fill me in on what the scary guy said tomorrow, I don't think I can handle more craziness just now."

"Are you sure?" Katara asked, chewing lipstick off her lower lip. 

"In the morning." He insisted.

He really, really needed to sleep after the kind of day he'd had. And maybe, just maybe, he'd get to see Zuko again, sooner rather than later. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh god next chapters gonna be huge..... enormous.......... gonna be a little longer wait than usual but also its gonna be soooo loooooong (im est at LEAST 10k words bc like...... its a whole ba sing se fic in itself...............) so!! sit tight itll be worth it!


	23. Tales of Ba Sing Se

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here it is  
> the big boy  
> officially the longest chapter in this fic clocking in at 16670 words according to google docs  
> drew several things scattered in here as a lil bonus for sticking through this monster of a chapter and also bc i havent drawn anything in a while so

The spirit did not show up that night, so Sokka had to face the Long Feng conversation with Katara in the same anxious mood as he'd been in before. Had the Dai Li really left Zuko alone? Had Zuko done something both stupid and entirely in-character and gone after him? 

Without any reassurance either way, Katara had to drop the big news on him; They would not be allowed to go before the Earth King with their war plans, as the King was at best a figurehead, and even speaking to _him_ about the war was forbidden. 

"What?! So we're just wasting our time here?!" Sokka squawked. 

"Not necessarily…" Katara placated. 

"No! We're not! Because Appa is still here, and we still have to find him!" Aang stomped a foot to the stone floor emphatically, scattering small stones from the impact. "We can worry about invasion plans _after_ we find Appa!" 

Sokka shrugged. "Alright, we'll stick around, then. I'm sure we'll hear some rumors around or something eventually."

"We'll explore the city for a few days, then come back for a brainstorming session. I think our problem is we just don't know enough about what's here." Katara suggested. 

What Sokka heard was 'no one will keep tabs on you for a few days' and 'spend as much time at the Pao Family Tea Shop as your heart desires', so he immediately agreed. Aang was also on board, which was the most important vote, and Toph had no opinion to voice. 

"As long as you make time for earthbending training, I'll go along with whatever you decide." She yawned widely, rolling over onto her stomach. "Well, if that's decided, I'm gonna sleep in. Wake me up never." 

\---

Zuko nervously munched at one of the pastries Sokka had brought him the night before as he bustled around the tea shop in the early hours of the morning, getting it ready to see customers. The breading was flaky, the filling was sweet, and he barely tasted it, caught in his own swirling thoughts. He hadn't seen Sokka overnight, the spirit not deigning to give them that necessary peace of mind, and he worried over his fate the entire morning, Uncle having to follow behind him and fix several mistakes as he went around absorbed in worry. 

"Perhaps it would be best if you rest, Nephew. I can see you are troubled." Uncle suggested at last, taking a cup from his hands before he dropped the newly-dried cup back into the washing water. 

"I'm fine, Uncle." Zuko insisted, pulling another cup from the tub. "I'm just a little preoccupied."

"I understand, Nephew, but I must insist. You have had a distressing evening. It is no weakness to rest when necessary, you must remember." 

"Uncle, please. I can't just let you do this by yourself."

"I hate to say this, you know I do, but you're being a nuisance. Go, sit. Pao will be in soon, he will help me finish." Uncle bodily pushed Zuko out of the kitchen, steering him to the nearest table and applying firm pressure to both shoulders until he caved, sinking into the chair. 

So he'd been attacked and betrayed by a guy he'd almost thought he could be friends with. So his close friend and literal soulmate had been arrested the moment they finally were able to meet up properly after so long. So he'd left Sokka to the Dai Li's devices instead of going after them and the guilt was eating him alive. So what?! It wasn't getting to him, he wasn't bothered!

Shortly, Pao came in and, unfortunately, agreed with Uncle, telling Lee to only bus tables, that he was not allowed to perform any of his normal duties until Pao and Mushi agreed that he was fit for work again. Lee grumbled, wiping down the same table for far longer than sensible, taking out his worry and frustration on the wooden surface. 

The shop grew busy quickly, many locals stopping in for an energy boost from a strong, dark blend, but Lee was still not allowed to pitch in. Pao took orders as Uncle Mushi brewed, and the patrons had to sit more patiently than usual.

Feeling useless, shuffled off to the side as soon as he proved himself unworthy, Lee grew even more frustrated. He stopped looking up every time the door opened, after the first twenty-odd times proved disappointing. Until he could see Sokka's face, the anxiety snarling through his gut wouldn't leave him, he was certain. 

"Welcome- oh! Welcome!" Pao's voice audibly brightened partway through greeting the most recent customer. An old regular, then, probably. Lee scrubbed at an already-clean spot with fervor, trying to look busy. 

"Uh, hey. Good morning." A distinctly familiar voice responded. Lee's heart stuttered in his chest. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. He almost couldn't bring himself to look up, the fear of somehow being _wrong_ about that voice restraining his movements. "Is Lee working today?"

He looked up. Standing in the doorway, haloed in the white morning sunlight, was Sokka. Uninjured, intact, and wearing his usual Water Tribe blues. His breath caught in his chest. 

Slowly, without thinking, without hearing Sokka's greeting, he floated over to him, hesitant to reach out, in case this was some sort of hallucination. He still wasn't thinking, wasn't in command of his actions, as he slid his hands, reverential, along either side of Sokka's jaw, cupping his head in warm palms, pulling him in, crashing their lips together. 

He poured all of his doubts and worries and fears, all of his relief and elation and joy, he poured them all into this one kiss, holding Sokka close and willing him to understand, willing him to feel just how much it would _kill_ Zuko if anything happened to him. Warm hands slid around his waist, sliding up his back to grasp at the fabric at his shoulder blades. 

A cheer went up among the patrons, and Lee remembered himself. He released Sokka's face, allowing a bit of distance between them. 

"I'm so sorry, I was just so worried about you, the Dai Li took you- but you're okay now and I just kind of moved without thinking, and I don't want you to hate me and that was probably really weird for you-"

"Hey." Sokka cut him off. Seeing the dopey grin on his face, the fond look in his eyes, he snapped his mouth shut, his train of thought abruptly ended. "You're rambling." 

Reckless laughter, born from the crashing wave of relief overtaking him, bubbled up in Lee's chest. "Sorry." 

"Why don't you boys take this to the back room, hmm?" Uncle Mushi suggested. "Give yourselves a bit of privacy." 

Everyone in the shop was staring at them, sipping their various teas and enjoying the drama unfolding before them. 

"He makes a good point." Sokka chuckled, dark flush spreading across his suddenly-bashful expression. 

"He always does." Lee quipped. He took Sokka by the hand, tugging him back into the kitchen with him. 

\---

Sokka had to be proud of himself for keeping most of his panic internal as Lee brought him behind the banners, through the kitchen, and into the little alcove that acted as storage for the shop. 

"We'll be out of the way here." Zuko explained, but that didn't make the close proximity so soon after that kiss, after _their first kiss_ (did he want there to be more?) any less overwhelming.

"You kissed me." Sokka said, intelligently. 

"I did." Zuko croaked, picking at his nails. "Is that… okay?" 

"Yes!" He replied, too eagerly. _Play it cool, Sokka!_ "Uh, I mean, I didn't hate it? It was alright." 

Zuko sagged with relief, leaning back into the shelves full of tea. "Oh, thank the spirits. I was so scared I'd ruined everything and you'd hate me forever. Jet said it wasn't illegal or anything, but that doesn't mean everyone's just okay with it, and besides that I don't even know if you really _like_ me like that, or if you're like this with everyone. Since I only really get to see you one-on-one most of the time…" 

"Wait, why would it be illegal? Like, because I'm not from the Fire Nation, or… wait but Jet thought you were Earth Kingdom, right?" 

"No, not because… I mean because we're both… is that really so strange?" 

Sokka tilted his head, trying to make sense of Zuko's halting explanation. "You mean, because we're both guys?" 

Zuko nodded.

"Uhh, I mean, the Northern Tribe made a big deal about it when they found out, but in my home tribe… well, I guess I don't really know. Mom seemed okay with it. You being a boy meant less to people than you being Fire Nation." 

"Oh. I guess that makes sense, considering…" Zuko chewed his lip, looking away.

"Yeah."

"What about you, then? Is that… which means more to _you?"_

Sokka thought about it before answering, letting the question simmer while Zuko fidgeted. The easy answer was _Fire Nation, definitely._ Having grown up knowing his soulmate was another boy, even being reassured over and over that _sometimes soulmates aren't romantic,_ he'd come to terms with his inevitable attraction to other guys. 

But just saying _Fire Nation, definitely_ wasn't quite right, either. If it had bothered him so terribly much that Zuko was _the enemy_ , that he was Crown Prince of Jerkbender Land, he wouldn't have tried so hard to make their friendship _work._ And boy, had Zuko made it hard. It _should_ have mattered.

But Zuko was Zuko, and Sokka couldn't hate him.

"It mattered most… that it was _you,_ I guess." Sokka finally said. Zuko flinched, and he rushed to clarify. "Not as in, that was the worst part, but as in… the rest didn't matter so much, if it was you. You're not your country, and you're definitely not your dad. And maybe you did your best to make our lives a nightmare for a while there..." He paused, a grin curling into his lips as Zuko's face fell into a pout, "But you also saved my life. You saved _Aang's_ life, several times, even though he's your big ticket to getting back home. If it was anyone else... so, yeah. It doesn't bother me." 

Zuko seemed to consider for a while, keeping his head down. "That still doesn't answer my other question, you know."

"Other question?" Sokka thought back, trying to remember. 

"If you, uh, like me." Zuko was still not meeting his eyes. The tip of his ear was turning pink. 

"Like… like-like?" Sokka's grin reemerged, mischief in his eyes. 

"Ugh, yes, like like-like! What are we, five?!" Zuko groaned. 

Sokka laughed, feeling like a weight had been lifted from his chest. He'd just answered that question for himself, after all. "Didn't I just say it? 'The rest doesn't matter if it's you'?" He gently guided Zuko's face to look him in the eyes again, leaving his fingertips brushing along his jawline.

"Yeah." Zuko's voice cracked on the single syllable. "You did say that." 

Sokka leaned forward, giddy to find Zuko doing the same. Their noses brushed as they met halfway, and when Sokka murmured, his breath ghosted across Zuko's lips. "What about you? Do you like me? Or do you like-like me?" 

"Sokka…" Zuko nosed his way forward, closing the last spare centimeters between them and capturing his lips again. "I've been in love with you since I was eight fucking years old." 

"What?!" Startled, Sokka jerked backwards, forgetting the small space they had crammed themselves into. His head slammed into a shelf, knocking down several tins full of various leaves. "Ow, shit!" 

"Here, let me…" Zuko began, dropping to gather the scattered merchandise. 

"Everything alright back here?" Uncle Iroh called, peeking into the kitchen. He froze, staring at the tableau before him: the two boys, both blushing furiously, Zuko crouched in front of Sokka, who was leaning back against the shelves. "Oh, ah, I see you two are still… catching up. I'll get out of your way, then!"

"No, Uncle! You don't understand-!" Zuko tried, but Uncle Iroh had already returned to the dining room. "Oh, no…" 

"Oh, spirits, that's awkward… I am so sorry." Sokka knelt to help retrieve the tins, Zuko now holding his face in both hands. 

"No, don't worry, I'll just die of mortification here. Why does he _always_ assume I'm doing… _stuff_ with you?!" The last part was muttered quietly enough that Sokka was certain he wasn't supposed to have heard it. "And now I have to go back out there and serve tea… where everyone saw me kiss you and then escape to the back room with you… oh, spirits, Uncle's not the only one who's going to _assume_ things!"

Sokka patted his shoulder firmly, replacing the tins on the shelves. "That's rough, buddy." 

"They're _assuming_ things about you, too, you know!" Zuko snapped, glaring up at him. The redness of his cheek ruined the intensity. 

"Yeah, but I don't work here. I could just leave and never come back." Sokka pointed out. 

"Please don't. I want to see you." 

The blunt honesty of the statement struck Sokka right in the heart. "Yeah. Sure thing, bud." He croaked out. "Um, do you… are we… do you wanna be…" What was the right way to ask out a guy you'd known for so long? Especially one with whom you held such a complicated relationship, one you absolutely _had_ to hide from everyone in your life? 

"Um, well, I guess we don't have to label it or anything, but I would like to be… on kissing terms. With you." Zuko stammered, finally rising from his defensive crouch. 

"Kissing terms! Sounds good! I'm down with kissing terms!" Sokka replied, far too exuberantly. 

Zuko sagged with relief, a crooked smile splitting his features. "Good, then. Kissing terms it is." He took advantage of the new status immediately, pressing one more quick kiss to Sokka's lips. "I do actually need to get to work. They wouldn't let me do anything all morning and we're way behind."

Sokka watched him go, willing his jackalope-fast heartbeat to slow to normal. 

\---

_I've been in love with you since I was eight fucking years old._

The sentence replayed over and over in Sokka's head as he wandered the streets of the Lower Ring aimlessly. 

Eight! They'd _met_ when he was eight! Was Zuko seriously admitting he'd been _in love_ with Sokka the whole time?! Can eight year olds even _be_ in love?! 

Love! He'd just launched right into it, no hesitation! Sokka had been joking around with 'like-like', and Zuko just dropped the L-bomb into the mix! Love! 

Consumed by his racing thoughts, Sokka nearly bowled over a little girl with a basket of flowers. 

"Oh, shi-uhh, whoops! Sorry about that!" He barely avoided cursing in front of the child, backing up a few paces. 

"It's okay, mister. You can make it up to me by buying lots of flowers!" The little girl grinned widely, revealing a few conspicuously-missing teeth. There was a mischievous twinkle in her bright green eyes as she held up the basket. "If you don't see any you like in here, my Daddy's shop is close by!" 

Sokka couldn't deny her now, feeling a bit guilty about running into her like that. "You drive a hard sale! Show me this shop!"

The little girl took his hand, twin brown braids swinging around as she twirled and marched him over to a nearby storefront. "Daddy! I got a customer for you!" She called as they approached. 

"Ah, welcome!" The man inside the shop, presumably her father, greeted. "Buying something for a girlfriend, are you?" He guessed. 

"Sort of. Got anything in gold?" 

The shopkeep eagerly showed him a few options, while his daughter released Sokka's hand to flounce over to the counter, big green skirt poofing out as she sat heavily. 

"Daddy, when is Jin coming home? I'm booored!" She whined. 

"Your sister's probably at that tea shop again, honey." The shopkeep replied, reaching for a vase Sokka had indicated interest in. "I'm sure she'll be back soon, and then you can play. Okay?" 

"Okaaay." The girl whined, kicking her feet and sighing dramatically. 

"You'll have to forgive Yin. Her sister's been disappearing during work hours recently and she's been having to cover for her. I think Jin's probably got her eyes on some boy. Teenagers, am I right?" He handed over the shapely green vase, full of vibrant gold and orange orchids, grinning knowingly at Sokka. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Uh, no, sir. Just these." 

"Alright, then, let's get you checked out. Yin, how much does he owe us?" The shopkeep made his way over to his daughter, helping her count and calculate the total price. Sokka pulled the heavy coin purse from his belt, laden with his share of the Avatar's royal stipend, and counted out a few extra coins for them. 

"No! This is too much!" Yin insisted, counting his coin. "Take these back!" 

"You're right, Yin! That's good math!" Sokka praised, handing the extra coin more surreptitiously to her father. "I've got more than I need. Seriously, take it." He murmured. The man gave him an inquisitive look, but pocketed the change, anyway. "Take care!" 

For the second time in under an hour, Sokka almost bowled someone over as he tried to leave. The girl yelped, grasping the vase with quick reflexes, and blinked at him in shock for a long moment. 

"Ah, Jin, you're back! Help me tidy up, would you?" The shopkeep called. 

So this was Yin's older sister, huh? The resemblance was uncanny. Same hairstyle, same eye color... he was sure this girl probably looked _exactly_ like Yin when she was younger. 

"Sure, Dad!" Jin called back. "Here, your flowers." 

"Hey, thanks." Sokka grinned back at her. "Your little sister's getting grumpy. I wouldn't keep her much longer." 

"Good advice." Jin giggled, making her way across the store. 

A crush on a boy at a tea shop, huh? It _could,_ theoretically, be a different boy, from a different tea shop. He wondered if he'd see her around.

\---

"We all saw your fancy swordplay last night, kid, don't sell yourself short." The guard insisted. "We could really use someone like you. You stand up for what you believe in, you know how to handle yourself in a fight, you respect authority… I could go on."

"Please, don't." Lee pleaded. He regretted borrowing the swords from this guy. The guard had already been trying to recruit him all week, saying something like 'you carry yourself like a guy who can fight', and he'd finally proven the guy's suspicions. He really wished he could refute the guard's other points, pointing out his awful track record with the law and morality more generally, but that would be going a little too far the _other_ way. Uncle would be very disappointed if he got arrested. "I just attract trouble. All I want to do is work here, peacefully, with my uncle."

"Alright, alright." The guard leant back, holding his hands up in surrender. "But the offer still stands. Come talk to me if you ever change your mind. You should really think it over. Give it some serious consideration."

"...Sure." He tried, again, to leave the conversation, and was relieved to find a convenient out waiting for him in the doorway. "Oh, Sokka! You're back!" 

The guard let him go, thank the spirits, and he rushed over to where Sokka waited, poorly hiding a vase of flowers behind his back. 

"Hey." Sokka grinned, spinning the vase around to his front. "Brought you something." 

"I am so shocked. This is my shocked face. You were hiding them so well." Lee responded, blankly. "But… flowers?" Were they there? Was this a… flowers kind of thing? Lee wasn't sure when flowers were appropriate, to be fair.

"Yeah… I ran into a little girl who was very persuasive. I figured your apartment here is kind of empty still, what with being brand new and all, and thought it could use a little color."

Somehow, that was both thoughtful and impulsive, and just what he'd expect from the boy. "They're nice." 

"They reminded me of your eyes." Sokka admitted easily. How did he do that? Lee was a mess just hearing something like that, but Sokka always said that kind of thing like it was nothing! 

"Thanks." Lee was even more embarrassed to find his voice cracking, his face surely red as a radish-beet by now. "Uh, I'm sure Uncle will appreciate the gesture. He's been talking about sprucing the place up." 

Sokka beamed, glancing around the shop as Lee carefully took the vase off his hands. "Hey, your afternoon rush should be ending soon, right? Would you be able to grab dinner with me?" 

"Oh, uh… Let me ask Uncle." Lee turned to do so and was startled to see Uncle Mushi already hovering behind them. 

The old man took the vase from him, in turn. "Go on, Nephew. I can handle the shop for a bit while you're gone. Just be back in time to close up."

"I won't keep him too long, sir, you have my word!" Sokka promised, taking Lee's hand and guiding him out of the shop. They waved to Uncle as they went, embarrassed to see the old man share a conspiratorial nudge with the overenthusiastic guard. 

"So, where are you taking me?" Lee asked, suddenly very aware he was still in his work clothes. "And can I at least take the apron off, first?"

"Nah, it's cute on you." Sokka refuted loftily. "Besides, it's clean, isn't it? All you guys serve is tea."

"It's still weird to go to a restaurant in an apron." Lee frowned. 

"Do you want to waste what little time we have for this date to go home and change?" 

Was this a date? Were they dating? He regretted avoiding defining their relationship already. 

He shook his head. "I guess not."

"We'll go someplace really casual. You won't stand out next to me, anyway. Not in my Water Tribe clothes." 

That was a fair point. Sokka's boisterous personality attracted a fair share of attention on its own, and the novelty of the foreign garb certainly didn't deter the starers. "Lead the way, then."

\---

The little place Sokka chose professed 'authentic ethnic cuisine', whatever that meant, and the boys stared for a long time at the menu options. 

"How can they sell this many totally different things? The ingredients alone should be putting them out of business." Sokka remarked, pointing out the sheer variety of different regional foodstuffs. There were even a few options claiming to be Water Tribe fare, all of which bore descriptions listing ingredients not grown anywhere near the poles.

"The right spices for these dishes cost a fortune here." Lee indicated the small selection of 'Fire Nation cuisine' on the menu. "Uncle tried to find some basic spices at the market and was told they could only be found in the Upper Ring. Guess they have to be… _imported."_ The way he said it implied he meant _smuggled._

"That's too bad. Maybe I can score you some of those, then." Sokka offered.

Lee's eyes lit up. "You do live up there, don't you…" He murmured. "That'd be fantastic. I'll have Uncle make you a list." 

Finally, a waitress came by their table, taking their orders. Predictably, they each chose a dish claiming to be from their home countries, eager to critique the professed authenticity of the establishment. 

"You know… you said you'd take us somewhere 'casual'." Lee accused. 

Sokka shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a man of refined tastes. I like the finer things in life." 

"Oh, do you?" Lee raised his eyebrow, looking unimpressed. "And when did you pick that up? In your peasant village?" 

"As a matter of fact, it was all that time we spent sleeping in the dirt, eating nuts and twigs." Sokka whined. "I never thought I'd miss a good, thick pelt until we left the South Pole. Like, animals live everywhere, right?! But their fur is all different here! Barely anything even has an undercoat!" 

"I have no idea what that means, but I get it. I always thought silk was annoying, sliding around everywhere when you just want it to stay put, but now… all of these fabrics are so _scratchy."_ Lee plucked at his sleeves, easily finding loose threads, and pouted. 

Sokka burst out laughing. "I can't believe you're seriously complaining about _silk!_ I know I get on you for being all pompous and stuffy, but _boy_ do you make it easy!" 

Lee glared at him, but let the dig slide. He was right, after all. It was pretty ridiculous to complain about _too much_ luxury. 

"Your meals, gentlemen." The waitress alerted, sliding the dishes in front of them. "Enjoy your meal."

"Thanks, you too." Lee responded, wincing like he'd been stabbed. 

The food was, as expected, utterly foreign. Sokka tried a tentative bite of his 'authentic Water Tribe cuisine', and found that, other than a familiar saltiness, the dish failed to uphold its claims. 

"This is just random food they oversalted…" He complained.

Lee finally recovered from his mistake enough to taste his own dish, and Sokka took great pleasure in the way his entire face screwed up. "I don't know what I expected, but I think they just burnt all the food." 

Sokka burst into raucous laughter, snatching a piece of what may have once been meat with clumsy chopsticks. "Oh, man, I have to try that!" Sure enough, the mystery meat was bone dry and thickly charred. Unfortunately, they'd gotten at least one spice right, and an uncomfortable heat slowly built at the back of his tongue. "Agh, hot! It's got the spicy spice! You didn't warn me!"

"Does it?" Lee looked genuinely confused, taking another bite of his terrible food. "I don't taste it, Sokka, I don't know what you're talking about."

"It's all burny! And not just because it's, you know, burnt." He shoveled a big bite of mushy vegetable from his own plate into his mouth to cancel out the spice. It worked a bit, and he gulped down a healthy serving of tea to finish it off. 

"I forget how delicate your tongue is." Lee mocked, sipping at his water to hide a smirk. 

Sokka pouted. "Your people are all sadists, I swear." He grumbled, remembering the cook's joke about his 'cat's tongue' months earlier. Unfortunately, that brought up memories of what befell everyone at the North Pole, and his mood plummeted. "...Sorry, that was kind of uncalled for." 

"It's… fine." Lee replied, in a tone that suggested it was not. "Do you think you can finish that, or should we give up?"

Sokka considered. The dish _was_ uniquely terrible, but… "I hate wasting food. Let's just tough it out."

"Wanna make it a contest?" Lee suggested.

"Winner picks next date?" 

Lee's eyes widened and Sokka grinned. 

"Uh, sure. First to finish wins. What are you choosing?"

"Oh, no, I see through your tactic. You're just stalling for- hey!" 

Sure enough, Lee used the time Sokka was accusing him of buying to start in on his burnt food. Determined to win, no matter the contest, Sokka lifted his plate, using the chopsticks as scoops. Maybe someday he'd get good at them, but now was not the time to practice. 

It was a close call, teenage boys being uniquely skilled at putting away food as a demographic, but Sokka pulled just ahead at the end, Lee struggling to chase down his last few mushy noodles. 

"I win!" He cheered, slamming the plate back down. He dug in the coin purse, smacking down enough to cover their bill plus a hefty tip to the rough wooden table. "Clear your schedule tomorrow afternoon, I'm picking you up at lunch!" 

\---

The zoo Sokka had heard about was… underwhelming. Actually, a better word was depressing. He needed to put a word in with Aang about this. The animal-loving airbender would definitely find some kind of solution. 

It was especially disappointing, because Sokka was _kind of_ hoping to turn today's date into a double-duty type of situation. Animal people would be more likely to have rumors about an animal, right? And Sokka was ostensibly still searching for Appa. 

This wasn't going to be their ticket. "Sorry for the bad call, buddy." 

Lee shrugged. "It's still interesting to see the kinds of animals that live here. They're a lot different than the ones back home." 

"While you make a totally valid point, I still think we should try something else, instead." Sokka suggested. 

"Oh, definitely. No argument there." Lee chuckled. "What do you have in mind?"

Sokka considered. "Wander some shops and find things you like?" 

"Uncle fills the apartment with enough useless garbage, you know. I don't need you buying me a bunch of things, too." 

That hurt, for some reason Sokka couldn't quite place. Here he'd thought the bronze flask he'd brought today had been a good gift, but maybe picking the one with the dragon etched into it had been a bit much. "Sorry… I've been trying to pick out things you'd like." 

Lee sucked in a sharp breath, looking guilty. "Oh, no, that came out wrong! That's not what I meant!" 

"No, it's fine. I get it. How about something practical? How did you like those pastries I got you?" Food was practical, and didn't take up a bunch of space. 

"They were good?" Lee replied uncertainly. 

Oh, right. With all of the chaos that had followed Jet showing up… "You didn't get a chance to try them, did you." 

"No, no, I did, just…" Lee scratched at the short hair at the nape of his neck. "I kind of stress-ate most of them while I was distracted, so I didn't really pay attention to how they tasted. Sorry." 

Stress-eating, huh? "Aww, were you worried about me?"

"Yes." There was that blunt honesty again. Couldn't this guy pull his emotional punches? He was gonna reduce Sokka to a blubbering, sappy mess at this rate! "I didn't know what they were planning to do with you, and Uncle only barely talked me out of going after you. I felt so guilty for leaving you alone like that." 

"I'm gonna be honest, I totally assumed you _would_ try to bust me out." 

Lee winced. "I'm sorry. I should have-"

"No. I'm glad you didn't. I don't want you to put yourself in danger for me, you know? I'm a big boy, I can handle myself! It all turned out alright, didn't it?"

He nodded, but the guilty look didn't leave his expression. 

"Tell you what. We're gonna go back to that bakery, you're gonna pick out something that sounds good, and you're gonna taste it properly this time. We're gonna salvage this date one way or another, mark my words!"

\---

Unfortunately, cinnamon was one of those spices that was way too expensive to get here, so Lee had to settle. He could see the gears clicking behind Sokka's eyes as he made his selection, memorizing the kinds of things he was interested in and what he turned his nose up at. It was endearing, in a way, if a bit unnerving. 

He finally selected something that sounded a lot like mochi, even though the baker called it a different name, and Sokka eagerly paid for the desserts. 

"Where to next?" He asked. It was still Sokka's choice, today, after all. 

"How about we get some tea from your uncle to go with the snacks?" Sokka suggested, already leading the way out of the shop. 

"I don't particularly like tea…" Lee argued, frowning. 

"Well, what do you suggest, then?" 

He didn't actually have any sort of plan. "How about shopping? You said you wanted to do that, earlier." 

Sokka chewed his lip, soft blue eyes turning stormy. "You said you didn't want a bunch of junk, though." 

Seized by a need to clear up that troubled expression, Lee snatched something from the nearest shop, some sort of woven jewelry. "This! Buy me this!" He forced out, before even taking a good look at the piece. 

Sokka stared in shock at it, swallowing hard. "Yeah. Yeah, okay." He agreed, handing off a handful of currency to the shopkeep. The man was eyeing them over curiously, but Lee ignored him, suddenly terrified to actually look at what he'd bought. 

"Want me to help you put it on?" Sokka offered, and Lee nodded, finally opening his clenched palm.

The twine was dyed a soft blue, intricately woven to form a swirling pattern, like waves crashing, the uneven dye adding dimension to the pattern. Five small cerulean stones were tied securely in at even intervals, with the centermost stone bearing a carving of the familiar wave symbol of the Water Tribes. It bore a passing similarity to the necklace Katara always wore, and Sokka looked almost reverential as he tied the accessory snugly to Lee's neck, the stone pressing taught against his throat. 

"I don't mind you buying me things." His voice was low, but with their proximity, there was no chance Sokka didn't hear him. "I like having reminders of you around. I just don't want you to feel like you have to buy my affection." 

Sokka nodded, their faces close enough that their noses brushed as he did so. 

"Besides," Lee smirked, "There's nothing you can buy me that will impress me, anyway."

Sokka looked shocked, then broke into a wide grin. "Is that a _challenge, your highness?"_

"Please don't take it as one." Lee pleaded.

"Too late!" Sokka chirped, going in for a quick kiss before dashing away. "I'm gonna find you the best gift ever! No take-backsies!"

\---

Did he _know_?! 

Surely, Zuko wouldn't have just chosen that necklace at random, right? Out of all of the jewelry on display at that shop, he went directly for the imitation betrothal necklace.

Though… the selection of blue jewelry there was pretty small, nearly lost among a sea of greens, and it wasn't completely unthinkable that it had simply been the nearest item of the color. 

Still, _that_ would still imply that Zuko specifically chose the piece because it was Water Tribe colors, choosing to wear _Sokka's_ colors on display. He may have missed the deeper implications of the specific accessory, but the intent was still there. 

Did the shopkeep know what it was? Did he just copy the style, thinking it was Northern Water Tribe fashion? What did he think, seeing Sokka slip it around Lee's neck? 

What did _Sokka_ think about slipping it around his neck? 

"Hey, buddy! Something bothering you?" Aang's cheerful voice interrupted Sokka's swirling thoughts. 

"Oh, uh, no. Not really." Wait, there was something he'd meant to talk to Aang about, wasn't there? "Actually, there is something. Have you heard about the zoo?"

\---

"Uncle, what is this?" 

It wasn't much of a question. Zuko knew exactly what it was. It was an oversized display case, crammed into their too-small apartment. The question laid in _why_ the old man had thought this a necessary purchase. 

"It's a display case, Nephew!" Uncle replied jovially. "For all these knickknacks you've acquired!"

 _Acquired_ was one way of putting it. Zuko couldn't even argue. Despite his insistence that Sokka _not_ buy him the whole market, that little moment of weakness led to a steady increase in odds and ends. They really were cluttering up Zuko's side of the bedroom already. 

"We don't have room for this, Uncle." Zuko pointed out. 

"Well, your gifts have to go _somewhere_ , don't they? Unless you're prepared to tell him to stop buying you things."

Zuko sighed, running a hand through his hair. It was getting long enough to do that, already. "No, I think he'll just start _making_ me things, instead."

"I think you're right." 

"Ugh, fine! I see your point! Thank you for the display case, Uncle, it was very thoughtful." 

Uncle beamed, beginning to gather the knickknacks in his arms to arrange them on the shelves. "Very gracious of you, Nephew."

Together, they moved the pile of gifts from the bedroom floor. Vases of flowers, blown glass sculptures, jewelry of various colors and purposes, that awful, gaudy dragon flask… the shelves were half-filled already. 

Zuko groaned at the knock to the door, knowing who was behind it already. He threw the door open, glaring at Sokka. The boy had the good sense to look sheepish, holding up a handful of small satchels. 

"What did you bring this time?" Zuko grumbled accusatorially.

"Um, those spices your Uncle asked for." Sokka explained. 

Uncle bustled past, eagerly snatching the bags. "Oh, excellent! I look forward to getting good use out of these!"

Begrudgingly, Zuko allowed Sokka into the apartment. Noticing the other boy was already dressed up, sporting a new, green robe in rich fabrics, he glanced down at his own clothing with a huff. "I still need to get dressed, so-"

"Oh, you got shelves for the stuff!" Sokka noticed, making his way over to the case. "Good to see you're not throwing it all out, after all!" 

"Don't make me consider it." Zuko threatened. Sokka's answering grin told him he knew how empty that threat really was. 

"Where are you boys headed tonight?" Uncle asked as Zuko dipped out of the room. 

From the muffled conversation on the other side of the wall, he gathered that Sokka was informing Uncle of their plans to attend the theatre together, along with the brief synopsis of the play they were seeing. Already familiar with the topic, Zuko busied himself with his wardrobe. Uncle had dragged him to a tailor shortly after Sokka began showing up regularly, buying him a few options for 'date clothes'. The old man was really far too invested in his romantic life, but he appreciated the gesture nonetheless. It was disrespectful to show up to the theatre in less than your best, after all. 

He finally settled on an outfit, unfortunately green like the rest of his new wardrobe, and tugged it on just as Uncle shuffled his way into the bedroom. 

"Here, Nephew. Let me fix your hair." Uncle insisted, sitting him down. 

"Uncle, we're going to be late! Sokka doesn't care what my hair looks like!" 

"Nonsense. He styled his hair differently for your date tonight, didn't he? You owe him the same amount of effort." 

Zuko could never fight Uncle for too long. Not after everything he'd put the man through before. He allowed him to tug wax through his too-short hair with a comb, parting it neatly down the middle. 

"I'm so proud of you boys." Uncle praised as he worked. "Things were so tense for some time there, but you two have always been so infatuated with one another."

"Uncle!" Zuko groaned. "This is embarrassing!"

"I'm just trying to say that it brings an old man great happiness to see you boys work things out. You bring each other great joy." 

Zuko elbowed him gently in the stomach, but hid a small smile that was creeping onto his face. 

"You ready yet?" Sokka asked, leaning in the door frame, his loose hair sweeping to the side as he cocked his head. 

"That's up to Uncle." Zuko pointed out. 

"Just a moment more, I'm almost done." Uncle insisted, giving a few more strokes to the plastered hair before setting the comb aside and sealing the jar of wax. "There!"

"Aww, how sweet. Getting all pretty, just for me?" Sokka teased, fluttering his eyelashes and making kissy noises. 

"Let's just go." Zuko grumbled, storming for the front door. Sokka caught up to him, bumping into his back as he paused. "Thank you, Uncle."

"Of course, Nephew. Don't be too late, or your dinner will be cold!" 

"Ooh, what are you guys having?" Sokka inquired, leaning into Zuko's back. 

"Whatever it is, it'll be spicy. Now that you've brought us spices and all." 

"I still want to try it!" Sokka whined. 

"Play first. Then you can come here and eat plain rice while we have real food." 

"Meaaan!" 

\---

"I can't believe I let you drag me to that nightmare." Lee complained as they swam through a sea of theatre patrons into the buzzing streets of the Middle Ring. 

" _I_ can't believe you actually sat through the whole thing." Sokka grinned. "I thought for sure you'd walk out on me when you started critiquing the costumes the second the first actor walked on stage." 

"That'd be rude!" Lee insisted.

Sokka ruffled his hair affectionately, further ruining the work Uncle Mushi had put into it. Messy hair was a cuter look on him, anyway. "You're so sweet, sitting through the whole thing just for me."

Lee sighed. "The worst part is it could have been salvageable if there was a single actor up there worth anything." 

"Really? That hot mess of a script? Honestly, I think those actors did the best they could with what they had." 

"It had some good lines!" Lee argued. "Like the princess's speech at the end of the first act! That was good!" 

Sokka nudged him in the ribs. "Just because her speech was about honor and duty doesn't make it a masterpiece." 

"Hey!" 

"And besides, what about the big reveal at the end? Where her peasant soulmate turns out to be the long-lost prince of whatever the fuck? That whole thing was written so badly I could barely tell it was supposed to be a twist!"

"No, see, I think it was just because the actor's tone was so flat. Just because he was supposed to be reading a missive in the scene doesn't mean he couldn't add a little flavor to it." 

"I still say you're giving the writer too much credit. The whole premise was stupid in the first place. The princess and the peasant are star-crossed soulmates? That tired trope?"

"Isn't that what we are?" Lee reminded him.

"Hey!" Sokka held a hand to his chest, playing offended. "We're not a bad trope! Don't say things like that!"

"Don't tell me _you're_ secretly some long lost prince." Lee joked.

"Well, my dad _is_ the chief…" Sokka tapped his chin in mock-consideration. "Anyway, what was that whole subplot about her 'discovering latent earthbending abilities', anyway? That seemed like it was out of nowhere."

"Oh, that? That's just a common theme with these soulmate stories." Lee shrugged. "Uncle said he'd heard the same thing happening in real life when I asked him about… you know." 

"Like, they were a bender all along, and their bender soulmate just 'awakened' their bending?" 

"Yeah."

"Huh." Sokka frowned. "I don't like that." 

"Why not?" Lee seemed genuinely confused.

"Because, like… I dunno, I've spent my whole life being a non-bender, and it's kind of integral to who I am. Not to say I don't like having the power to help you out when you need it, because, boy, do you need it-"

"Hey!"

"-But I don't like the thought that I'm somehow… missing something. Like I'm somehow not complete without bending, or that being able to bend makes me _better_ suddenly… I don't know, I'm probably not making sense." 

He avoided Lee's gaze, those golden eyes suddenly intense, searching. 

"I don't really get it, but I see where you're coming from. It's not really the same, but…" Lee glanced around, checking to see how many people were around. The crowd had dispersed, but the streets were far from empty. "My father always seemed to consider bending the most important measure of our worth. When Azu- when my sister showed so much promise so early, he started to fawn over her, give her all of the attention. I never told you this, but… when I was born, he thought I wasn't a bender. He said I didn't have the sp- he thought he could tell, just by looking at me. He tried to have me killed." 

The words took Sokka's breath from his lungs like a punch to the gut. That man always seemed to one-up himself in sheer evilness. "That's awful…"

"I know it's not the same thing at all, and I'm not trying to make this all about me, but what I'm trying to say is… you're right. It's totally screwed up, how people think that being able to bend is inherently better, that it makes you a better person, than not being able to. There's so many things I've worked so hard at, that I've learned and practiced and gotten better at, but if it wasn't bending, my father didn't care. And you, you're funny and strong and _brilliant_ and you're never, ever helpless… benders never learn to be as resourceful as you are. You've had to work so hard to get where you are, and even if some people can't see that, it doesn't make it not true. You're _seriously_ impressive, and I only _wish_ I had the confidence you have."

Sokka wiped at his traitorously wet eyes. "Thanks, buddy." 

They walked in silence for a time, knuckles brushing with every step as they almost reached for each other, torn between giving space and seeking comfort. 

Finally, the curiosity overshadowed the heavy atmosphere. "Do your people really not tell stories about that? Surely there are stories with bender and non-bender soulmate couples?" Lee asked. 

"Oh, yeah, definitely, but…" Sokka scratched his head, suddenly bashful. "Maybe this is gonna sound stupid, after I just complained about the Earth Kingdom explanation, but… in our stories, the spirit of the ocean always comes to the aid of the non-bender soulmate in times of need. So, like, it's not their own power or whatever, but it's the spirits helping out. Since, you know, the spirits are the ones who choose the soulmates and all." 

"That makes sense." Lee allowed, then screwed up his face. "What about other benders, then? Does the spirit of the ocean still give you f- …my bending?"

Sokka shrugged. "We mostly just tell stories about waterbenders. I would guess it would be whatever spirit that has jurisdiction." 

Lee laughed. "Jurisdiction, huh?" 

"Wanna know a fun fact?" Sokka posited. "According to the textbook I found in the spirit library, the bending sharing thing is actually due to spiritual resonance."

"You found a textbook in a spirit library?"

"Oh, yeah. I actually found all kinds of cool stuff there. Before I pissed off the owl and he took it back to the spirit world, though. Actually, now that I think about it… maybe we should tell the university what happened to their Head of Anthropology…" 

"I don't think I wanna know. I don't want to imagine what would have happened to me if I was still chasing you guys." 

"Either trapped in the Spirit World or lost in the desert." Sokka informed him, reveling in the flash of fear in his eyes. "Then again, you've always been good at getting out of tight spots one way or another."

Lee hummed. "Usually with your or Aang's help, though." 

"Hey, that's right! Does that make you reconsider your stance on joining us?" Sokka laughed, not really expecting a serious answer, but Lee grew contemplative. 

"I still have some thinking to do. I want to make sure I make the right choices for the right reasons." He took a steadying breath, already a bit shaky with emotion. "I've made so many bad decisions, or accidentally stumbled into good decisions for bad reasons, and I- this is too big to risk. I'm sorry." 

"No, yeah, man, that's fine! I totally get that!" Sokka assured him. Just because he thought it seemed pretty straightforward didn't mean it wasn't a tough decision… but, really, they had all the time in the world, as long as Appa was still lost. Or at least the… four months before the solar eclipse. Plenty of time to swing Zuko's opinion his way. 

\---

A few days later, Sokka found himself at the flower shop again. The last few bouquets he'd bought had all been gold, or yellow, or orange… Basically, he'd been buying flowers thinking of Zuko, instead of buying flowers that would make Zuko think of _him._ If he was going to successfully impress his maybe-boyfriend with a gift, he needed to put more thought into it. The rest of his gifts had all been arranged on that shelf in the apartment, and the only one given a special place so far was the not-an-engagement necklace, that Zuko still wore tucked beneath his high collars. 

As much as seeing glimpses of that necklace gutted him every time, it had been a gift Zuko had picked out for _himself_ , technically, so Sokka still hadn't quite succeeded. 

So he'd considered it, and come upon a realization. 

He could only find the perfect gift here, at a flower shop. 

Maybe he'd have more success at an Upper Ring shop, with specialty, imported flowers, but he was running dangerously low on funds already, and Katara would definitely get suspicious if he asked for more without having any purchases to show for it. 

Katara could _not_ find out Zuko was in the city. Sure, he could _maybe_ convince her it was okay, that the prince was no longer a threat, but her protective streak when it came to Aang was almost maniacal, and he didn't want to risk it. Not to mention how _livid_ she would be if she found out Sokka knew for this long without warning them… 

Besides, he'd already established a comraderie at this shop, and they would maybe humor him an unusually specific request. 

He could only hope. It was… a _very_ specific request. 

Surprisingly, the elder daughter, Jin, was actually working today. "Oh, hey! Fancy seeing you here! Is the tea shop closed?" 

He knew it was. He'd specifically chosen a day the Pao Family Tea Shop wouldn't open for their date today- They were visiting the new, improved zoo Aang had just fixed up. A second chance at a zoo date plus another chance at the perfect pre-date flowers? It was too good to miss.

"Ha, ha." Jin replied humorlessly. "Yes, it is. Is there anything I can help you find, or do you already know what you want?"

"Actually, a little of both… see, what I _want_ are panda lilies." 

"Aren't those, like, a myth?" She asked, frowning. She must think he's making fun of her. 

"They're not, actually. They're just really, really rare. See, I kind of confessed my feelings with a panda lily, in, like, a roundabout way." He explained. 

Her eyes widened comically. "Panda lilies are supposed to grow in _active volcanoes,_ where did you find one?!"

He chuckled, scratching at his nape. "In an active volcano." 

"Well, we don't make it a habit of gathering flowers in dangerous places here, so I think you're out of luck." Jin explained carefully, still reeling from the information. 

"No, see, it's fine if you don't have any. Like, I didn't expect you to. What I wanted to know was… got anything similar? Just, close enough that it's, like, seeing them reminds you of them. Or something." Hearing himself articulate the request, Sokka quickly grew embarrassed. "Nevermind, it's stupid. I should figure out some other gift. This was a crazy idea in the first place." 

"Actually…" She interrupted, sliding off her stool and heading for the greenhouse behind the shop. "I think we have something that might work."

\---

Lee was deep in thought, idly scrubbing at already-clean tables to mask his churning thoughts. 

Sokka had always seemed so self-assured, so confident in himself. To hear that even he had doubts about his abilities and his worth was like pulling up the ship's anchor only to find it had come loose from the chain. Suddenly, he felt he couldn't be certain of his own bearings, having relied on Sokka to be that steady position. He was torn between worrying about himself and worrying about his friend. 

(Boyfriend? They really should talk that out.)

In the days following the theatre date, Sokka had bounced back, seeming no different than he always did. Sarcastic, a little goofy, always overthinking, but never as vulnerable as he'd seemed after the play. Was it just a moment of weakness, then? Or did he mask his insecurities so well that even his oldest friend couldn't notice the signs?

"Excuse me." A soft voice called from behind him, shocking him out of his thoughts. He flinched hard enough to bump the table, cursing as he scrambled to right himself. Finally, he turned to see the girl who had spoken, poorly hiding her laughter behind her hand. "Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to scare you!"

"That's… alright. Uh, can I help you?" 

She smiled up at him, eyes traveling over his face. "I wanted to thank you for the tea. It was delicious, as always."

"Oh, uh, my uncle is the one who brews it. I'll tell him you liked it." 

"Thank you, I'd appreciate that. What's your name?" 

"I'm Lee." He claimed, starting to get nervous. What was with the questioning? She was kind of staring at his face… had she noticed his foreign features? Most people hadn't seemed to pay them any mind so far, but that had been a combination of them staring at his scar and trying _not_ to stare at it. She was clearly taking in more of him, and very deliberately, at that. 

"It's nice to meet you, Lee. I'm Jin. I was wondering if you'd like to go out sometime?" 

Go out? Like… _go out,_ go out?! "Um, I'm sorry, but…" 

As though he'd been summoned, Sokka suddenly stepped out of the kitchen, where he'd been lending Uncle Mushi a hand. "Aww, is someone flirting with you- Hey! You're the girl from the flower shop!" Sokka brightened upon seeing the girl clearly, and she, in turn, seemed startled to see him.

"Oh! You're the boy who keeps buying gold flowers! How did your girlfriend like the zebra chrysanthemums?" 

The flowers in question sat in the green vase on the nightstand. Lee had utterly melted at them, the blooms reminding him starkly of the dried panda lily still tucked safely under a loose floorboard. 

"They were perfect! He loved them!" Sokka informed her, sliding his arms possessively around Lee's waist. "Didn't you, babe?" 

Babe? They'd never used pet names before...

The girl's face fell. "Oh… oh, spirits, I'm so sorry. I didn't know- oh, you must think I'm such an _idiot_!" 

"No, no, it's okay!" Lee assured her hastily. He felt guilty, for some reason, like he'd led her on, despite not knowing she'd even been interested until just now. "Uh, Jin, meet my boyfriend, Sokka." 

Sokka stiffened a bit at the title, squeezing his waist a little tighter. With the other boy behind him, Lee couldn't see his expression. Was he upset with the label, or was he just surprised to hear it?

"You never corrected us when we mentioned your 'girlfriend'." She accused.

"Whoops." Lee felt Sokka shrug, shoulders sliding against his back. His tone didn't sound at all remorseful. "You guys assumed all the flowers were for a girl, and I just didn't think it was important to correct you, I guess." 

Lee glanced at the door, hoping for some convenient excuse to fall into his lap to escape the awkward conversation, but, sadly, there remained only one other patron in the shop. 

"You teased me about the tea shop boy! You and my dad both! You had to have known!" She pouted. 

"I mean, I could guess, but you never mentioned the name of the shop or the boy, so…"

"Wait." Lee interrupted. "You got her to help you pick out flowers for me, even knowing she was interested?" 

"Well, when you put it like _that-"_

"No, when I put it any way! That was kind of mean, Sokka." Lee craned his neck to glare at Sokka properly, satisfied to see him cowed.

"It's alright, you don't have to defend me." Jin placated. "I was stupid. If I'd gotten the courage to talk to you earlier, maybe I could have actually asked instead of embarrassing myself like this." 

"No, he was rude, and he should apologize." Lee countered, crossing his arms firmly. 

He felt Sokka shrink back, arms retreating from their grip. "Sorry, Jin. He's right. I had a suspicion your crush was on him, and I teased you about it. I was having fun at your expense, and it was mean of me." He bent forward in a shallow bow, formalizing the apology.

Jin smiled, bowing back to him. "It's very sweet of you to apologize." When she straightened again, there was a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "You two are very cute together, you know. I can't even be too upset about all this. You came in for flowers so often… I know you really care about him."

A familiar sheepish look settled onto Sokka's face. 

"And you, Mr. Deep Thinker… I always thought you seemed so cool and pensive, but you were really just thinking about him, weren't you?" 

Lee spluttered. He couldn't even deny it. 

"If you guys ever need date ideas, I've lived here all my life, you know. I could suggest some things." 

Before Lee could stop him, tell him 'no, taking date suggestions from the girl who just asked me out is also weird', Sokka impulsively answered for the both of them. 

"Yeah, that'd be great! I live in the Upper Ring, so I don't even get to see much around here."

"Oh, wow! I thought you were a refugee like us, but you're an important guy, huh?" 

Sokka stretched his shoulders out, looking smug. "Yeah, best friends with the Avatar, no big deal." 

"The Avatar?! The Avatar's in Ba Sing Se?" Jin seemed less shocked and more excited. "I don't know that any of my suggestions would really be that impressive, then, if you're used to that kind of luxury." 

Sokka and Jin continued to chatter, Sokka eagerly regaling her with stories about the Avatar, coaxing her into giving him her date tips, getting dangerously close to revealing Lee's noble status more than once, and he quietly snuck his way out of the conversation. That single customer in the corner wasn't going to serve himself, after all. 

\---

"The fountain she mentioned should be around here somewhere…" Sokka muttered, dragging Lee by the wrist through the streets of the Lower Ring. 

"Maybe we put this one off and get her to draw us a map?" Lee suggested, though he didn't put much effort into freeing himself from the grip. 

"No, no, I can find it, just give me… here! ...I think."

"Your confidence is reassuring." Lee responded, flatly. 

"Well, excuse me!" Sokka huffed. "I was looking for the lanterns she mentioned, but it looks like they're all out." 

Sokka almost missed the surreptitious glance Lee gave their surroundings, until he leant over to murmur into his ear. "Do you see any Dai Li anywhere?" 

"No, but I bet they're around. They've been keeping a tight watch on us, especially me." Sokka grumbled the last bit. 

Lee straightened. "Keep an eye out. I'm gonna light them." 

It was near impossible to do so when the firebender made himself just so _mesmerising_ to watch. The precision with which he threw the tiny jets of flame, only just catching the lanterns' wicks alight, the smooth and graceful dancing between his stances as he went, the swift movements of his eyes as he targeted each lantern in an instant… In fact, Sokka all but forgot he was meant to keep watch, frantically casting his gaze about as the last lantern began to glow. 

He released a relieved sigh at the still-empty streets. "Looks like we're clear." He announced. 

Zuko didn't respond, staring out at the fountain now, the firelight flickering across its surface. "She wasn't kidding about this place, huh?" He nearly whispered, like the words had come unbidden. 

Standing beside him and taking in the view, Sokka couldn't help but agree. "Man, imagine if she'd actually gotten you out here. I would've lost you," he snapped his fingers, "just like that. This is romantic as hell." 

A tiny smile crinkled Zuko's eyes. He held out a hand, waiting for Sokka to take it, and led him to the fountain's edge. Sokka allowed himself to be tugged down, sinking to sit at the fountain's stone lip beside him. "I honestly can't imagine being here with anyone but you." 

Sokka chuckled to disguise the fluttering in his heart. "Gross, too sappy. I can't deal with you." 

"Sorry." Zuko murmured, sinking in on himself. 

"What? No, you don't have to apologize for that! I was just teasing-"

"Not just for… what I said. Sorry, also, for the whole… Dai Li thing. You wouldn't be in trouble with them if you hadn't defended me from Jet. So… sorry." 

"What? No! That one was all on me, man." Sokka refuted. "You tried to stop me before I did anything stupid. I'm just… I'm so fucking impulsive sometimes." He sighed, scratching his nails through his gathered hair. "I hate it." 

Despite the low murmur he'd dipped into, Zuko had clearly heard him. "Hey, so am I. At least _you_ think things through sometimes. All me trying to think gets me is making even _worse_ impulsive decisions." 

Trying to lighten the mood, Sokka grinned, nudging him with his shoulder. "What, like kissing Jet?"

It was the wrong thing to say, he knew, seeing how Zuko suddenly looked like he might be sick. 

"I told you, I didn't exactly _let_ him. He cornered me, didn't let me say 'no'. Just did whatever he wanted." 

A nasty feeling churned in Sokka's gut. Jealousy warred with outrage until he wasn't sure what emotion was winning. "Why couldn't you stop him?" 

A look of hurt flashed through his golden eyes. Sokka backpedaled immediately. This wasn't the time to be jealous.

"Not that I'm trying to blame you or anything! I know what kind of jerky creep that guy is! I'm just… trying to understand."

Zuko wouldn't meet his earnest gaze. "I don't know. I didn't want to make a scene. We're trying to lie low here. Start over." A hand drifted to the shiny tissue around his left eye.

"Are you… is that all?" Sokka asked, eyeing the subconscious motion. 

Zuko snatched his hand back down. "...Maybe not. I think it was… I got shaken up, for some reason. The way he stood over me, the way he touched my face, my scar… I think it tapped into those memories somehow. I just couldn't… I couldn't fight back." 

Something about his tone told Sokka he wasn't just talking about Jet anymore. He never _did_ get the full story about Zuko's injury, but the fragmented pieces didn't paint a very good picture. 

He let out a heavy breath through his nose, calming the anger as it began to win the battle. "If Jet was willing to do that kind of thing to you, I really don't want to know what he did to Katara." He realized. 

Zuko blinked, startled out of the dark spiral his thoughts had taken. "Katara?" 

"Oh, yeah, I didn't tell you how Jet knew me, did I?" 

Zuko shook his head, eyes focussed in that way that said he was listening intently. 

"It's a long story, but… while we were running from you, we stumbled into Jet and his gang. There were a lot of them back then, living in the forest in this secret treehouse hideout." 

"The Freedom Fighters." Zuko guessed. At Sokka's surprised look, he shrugged. "Jet invited me to join them. He… didn't know where I was from, yet." 

"Yeah… Katara and Aang were completely taken by him, like, instantly. Aang, at least, just thought he was cool, but Katara… she thought I was being an ass for not trusting him. Like I was just upset because she liked the guy. But… he didn't trust _me_ from the start. He had one of his guys tailing me the whole time we were there. At the time, I was super paranoid that everyone somehow knew about you, knew that I was a dirty traitor consorting with the enemy or whatever…" He laughed derisively. "Turns out it was Jet that was the paranoid one. He hated me just for treating Fire Nation citizens like _people._ That was the worst crime of all for him." 

Zuko grew quiet, and Sokka fidgeted nervously. Had he said something wrong? Maybe mentioning that the guy had also seduced his sister was too weird. He scrambled for something to say, something to fix it, but Zuko finally spoke up. 

"I don't think… it makes you a traitor. To care about the people you're fighting. The war's awful for everyone. We'll never be able to put an end to it if everyone thinks of the other side as monsters, or savages, or anything less than _people."_ Finally, Zuko met his eyes, a determination lighting them with fire as surely as the lanterns were. "I've spent too long _terrified_ of the way that I feel about you. I've been scared that loving you would lead me to betray my people, that loving you was, in itself, betraying them, and I'm beginning to realize now, letting myself feel the way I do, allowing myself to love you fully, is the _only_ way I can save them." 

Sokka felt like he'd been encased in ice and burned alive all at once. When he was finally able to take a breath again, it was shaky and sharp, stinging through his lungs. "Wow, uh… thanks, buddy!" He choked out. 

An awful, awkward silence fell. Zuko blazed with a deep crimson blush. 

"So, uh…" Sokka desperately searched for a change of subject, feeling far too raw at the moment. "The lanterns!" He squeaked. "Yeah, uh, that was some pretty impressive bending, getting those lit!"

"Oh, uh, that? That was nothing." Zuko replied humbly, scratching through his hair. 

"No, no! It was really cool! You've got, like, really good control, and stuff! Some real precision! Not that I have a lot to compare it to, but you're really on another level! When I fought Azula, the fire was all over the place. It's really hard to control how much comes out and, like, when." 

Zuko shrugged. "You don't exactly have a lot of practice, though. You get a feel for it." He insisted. 

"Well, I've never seen any other benders do the kind of stuff you do. Like those fire daggers! Who else can do those!" 

"I just figured out how to make my bending work like my swords, since I was better at those. It was your suggestion, remember?" 

"Yeah, but you're the one who figured out how to make it work! It's not like _I_ know how bending works. It could've been a totally dumb suggestion, and I would've never known!"

"It was a good one." Zuko smiled a private little smile, for once not hiding it with his hand. "But, really, I think you give me way too much credit."

"No, no, really! Man, I _wish_ I had your kind of control. I've tried to practice, but, y'know, hard to do that when I can't bend all the time. I think, maybe, if I had control like you… I wouldn't be so scared every time." 

The honesty surprised him. He'd thought he'd put those fears behind him, having firebent relatively confidently against Azula, but apparently without adrenaline carrying him through, the fear returned. 

He felt Zuko's eyes on him, searching his expression. He turned his face away, trying to hide it, but it was already too late. 

"Are you really… is it the fire? Or the bending?" He asked carefully.

Sokka shrugged. "I don't like using any weapons I'm not really confident with. At least when I'm training, I can only hurt myself. If I try to use something new in battle, and something goes wrong…" 

He took a deep breath. Zuko waited, patiently. He almost wished the other boy would interject, cut him off before he could bare his soul, but he didn't, and Sokka had to continue. 

"I hurt Katara, the first time I firebended. She was defending Aang, and I was defending you, and suddenly she was screaming. I don't think I ever got past that." He shrugged, trying to play it off, but he could feel tears stinging at his eyes already. "It doesn't help that the whole Northern Tribe wanted to lock me up, after. They thought I was a threat… and it's not like they were wrong about that." He laughed, but the sound was too shaky to be lighthearted. Zuko would know he was weak, and scared, and would lose all respect for him. And right after the prince had just argued for all of his supposed virtues, too! 

Sokka swallowed, curling in on himself, preparing for whatever harsh words Zuko would think of. 

"I think… the kind of forethought and care that you have, I think you could be a really great firebender." He said, instead. "The problem a lot of us have with our control is that we don't respect the fire enough. It's a living thing, but it doesn't have to be dangerous. Not if we don't let it be." 

Zuko stood, slowly, taking hold of Sokka's hands in his own. Sokka allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, drawn into Zuko's warm chest. 

"You said… you said the bending sharing thing is due to… spiritual resonance? Something like that?" 

"Yes…?" Sokka responded tentatively. 

"So… do you know another way to activate it? Other than… one of us being in danger, I mean."

Sokka nodded. "The book said anytime we both feel the same emotion strongly. Fear always works, anger… but also, like, joy. Or, you know… whatever. Where are you going with this?" 

Zuko licked his lips, eyes darting away from Sokka's as he explained. "I want to give you my bending for a bit. There's something I want to show you." 

Sokka searched his gaze, watching him grow ever more embarrassed as the silence drew on. "...Okay." He said, at last. 

Zuko breathed a sigh of relief. Then, more deliberately, he breathed several deep breaths, taking the lantern flames in and out along with them. Finally, he dimmed them fully, the small fires shrinking into nothing smoothly. 

The moment the courtyard fell into darkness, Sokka felt Zuko's lips close over his own. 

At first, it was a kiss not unlike those that had come before- chaste, unhurried, but with an evident pressure due to Zuko's passionate nature. Slowly, though, the prince began to test the boundaries, deepening the kiss, exploring Sokka's mouth with a searching tongue, digging his fingers into brown hair with enough force to uproot the cord tying it together. 

Sokka eagerly responded in kind, discovering quickly a long-suppressed craving for these insistent touches, allowing his own hands to roam as they willed along the firm panes of Zuko's torso. A flickering heat began to build in his gut. Was it excitement? Or was it fire? 

As Zuko finally pulled away, sparks dancing between them on their synchronized, shaky exhale, he decided it was likely both. 

"Can you feel it?" Zuko whispered, lips still close enough to brush his own. A hot hand slid down to grip his waist. "Your chi, I mean." 

"Oh, right, uh… yeah. I think so." Sokka stuttered, trying desperately to return to the present. Why were they trying to turn his fire on, again?

"Follow my lead." Zuko instructed, stepping back to put distance between them and slipping easily into a firebending stance. 

Sokka mimicked the pose, fingers outstretched in an identical manner. Zuko shifted into another, sending his other hand out towards a lantern, two fingers pointing like darts, allowing only a sputtering flame to escape. Sokka followed again, a tiny spark jumping from his fingertips. 

"You can give it a little more than that. You're holding back too much." Zuko critiqued. "You don't have to worry about hurting me."

Sokka took a deep breath, returning to the first stance. Instead of instinctively bottling the burning chi as it flowed from his gut, he allowed it to stream forth as it willed. 

He couldn't stop the yelp that escaped him as the burst of powerful flame shot forth. Zuko caught and snuffed it quickly. 

"Too much, too much. You've gotten a lot stronger, haven't you?" 

"Uhh… thanks? I think?" Sokka nervously resumed his stance. 

"Just visualize the wick. Just enough flame to catch it." Zuko stopped him before he moved, grasping him gently by the wrist. "Get your breath under control. Firebending comes from-"

"-The breath. Got it." 

Zuko breathed with him for a time, allowing him to match pace with the measured breaths. 

"Again." 

Zuko released him, and Sokka sent a lick of flame rocketing at the lantern. It overshot by a bit, the oversized bolt only just catching the wick alight before it careened past, but he'd succeeded. 

"Good." Zuko praised. "The next." 

Again, Sokka lined up his shot, taking a few tries to get the right amount of flame, but successfully lighting another. 

"Good! You're getting it now!" 

Zuko slid into the stance next to him, sending a bolt of fire into another lantern. One after another, they took turns lighting the fountain once more, Sokka steadily gaining tighter control as they went. Finally, the last was lit, and Zuko took his still-warm hands into his own. 

"Take a look, Sokka. You did this. Nothing hurt, or destroyed, just a beautiful fountain lit up in the middle of the night." 

He did. He could still feel the fire burning just under his skin, eager to be released, but he'd controlled it, guided it, given it purpose.

And no one had gotten hurt. 

\---

"Is this another one of the places Jin suggested?" Lee asked as they traveled together to the Upper Ring. Sokka had had to do some convincing, making his infamous polar puppy eyes at the station attendants, but he'd managed to secure Lee as a plus-one for today. 

"No, it's a place Toph and Katara visited last week. They came home all fancy and made up and also better friends suddenly, so I thought we could check it out!" 

Lee gave the sign out front a dubious look. "'The Fancy Lady Day Spa', though? This doesn't seem like a bit much to you?"

"'A bit much', says the prince." Sokka rolled his eyes, dragging Lee forward. "Anyway, I like to be pampered! You know this!" 

He did. The receptionist, however, apparently did not. 

"Sir, this is a women's-only resort. I can't allow you and your… friend, here, to intrude."

"Aww, come on! I'm friends with the Avatar! Surely you can make an exception!" Sokka whined. 

The receptionist's expression remained unamused. "If the Avatar himself were to make the request, perhaps, but for you, rules are rules."

"Come on, Sokka, don't make a scene." Lee hissed, tugging at his wrist. 

"Yes, listen to the rube." The woman sneered. "I will call for security if you continue to harrass me in this manner."

"Rube?" Lee blinked in shock. Sure, he was dressed as a peasant, but that was a bit far, wasn't it?

"Fine. We don't want to give a snooty place like this our money, anyway!" Sokka grumbled, stomping out. Lee was less than impressed with the smug look that crept onto the receptionist's face as they left, but he was tugged along by the grip he still held on Sokka's arm. "And after all that work to get you up here in the first place…" 

"Maybe there's something else we can do while we're here. You've lived here a few weeks now. What's around?" 

Sokka didn't know. He'd spent so much of his time wandering the Lower Ring, or on dates to the Middle Ring, that he'd actually spent precious little time near his own residence. 

They ended up taking a quiet walk down a well-cared-for path, Sokka flinging his boomerang into the empty street before them, until they stumbled across something interesting. 

"Five Seven Five… this is a haiku parlor!" Sokka realized gleefully. 

"Shall we go in?" Lee suggested. "You're pretty good at poetry."

"Ugh, don't remind me. I hate knowing you saw how sappy I was." Still, Sokka grinned, and confidently entered the building. 

There was a security guard behind the door, glowering down at them both from his impressively intimidating height. 

"This is a serious establishment. Go somewhere else if you wanna pick up girls." 

"Um, actually…" Lee gestured vaguely at Sokka. "My boyfriend here likes haiku. May we please come in?"

Again, Sokka stiffened at the word 'boyfriend', but this time Lee could see his face. A barely-visible blush lit his cheeks, accompanied by a fleeting smile. 

"Fine. But if I hear one screwup, I'm kicking you both out." The guard stepped aside, allowing them past. 

The lavish foyer led into a sprawling performance space. Seated upon cushions arranged in neat rows, nearly a dozen young women politely watched as, one after another, they all performed. 

Lee followed Sokka into the room, sitting with him at the back of the group. 

The oldest woman in the room turned to glare at them, standing slowly. "You wish to perform? Do you think yourselves worthy? Stand, and face judgement." 

Lee counted the syllables on his fingers. Five, seven, five. 

"Sure I do, why not? Haiku is easy-peasy! Watch and learn, ladies!" 

Sokka strode confidently to the front, where the matron challenged him at every turn. Lee couldn't keep up, counting syllables as they bantered back and forth. She grew more and more irate as the boy made a fool out of her, easily countering her lofty poems with his joking, rhyming stanzas. The girls tittered amongst themselves, amused by his antics. He had to admit, it was pretty charming. It seemed like he was really in his element up there.

The matron ceded the floor at last, returning to her cushion in a huff. Sokka smugly performed one last haiku, to the displeasure of the crowd. With synchronized movements, he and Lee counted the syllables- five, seven, six. 

"That's one too many syllables, bub." The security guard announced with far too much glee, snagging Sokka by the collar of his tunic. Lee watched in horror as the boy was bodily tossed from the building. The guard turned his attention to Lee. "You too, kid." 

"Of course, sir. Right away." He hurried out, rushing to check Sokka for injuries. 

"Oww… he didn't have to be so mean about it!" Sokka pouted. 

"Are you all right?" Lee asked, seeing the way Sokka rubbed at his tailbone. 

"Nothing hurt but my pride." Sokka sniffed.

"Maybe you shouldn't have shown off like that. The guy already didn't like us." Lee scolded. 

Sokka pouted at him. "The lady was being a jerk! Just because we don't look fancy, people think they can push us around." 

Lee shrugged. "The nobility are like that."

"It's stupid!" 

"I can't argue with that. But that's the way it is." He stood up, brushing himself off. "Come on. I've got something that'll cheer you up."

Sokka eyed him suspiciously. "What?"

"We need to get a little ways away from this place before I show you. Wanna go back to my place?" 

\---

When they made it through the door, Zuko finally revealed his big secret. 

"Wait, wasn't that one of the scrolls at the haiku club?! When did you steal that?!" Sokka grabbed at the scroll, taking in the elegant calligraphy and the accompanying painting. 

_At night, falling leaves_

_Cast shadows through the moonlight_

_And whisper of love_

"When they booted you out. I snagged it when the guard turned his back." Zuko explained smugly. 

Sokka threw an arm around his neck, drawing him in for a quick kiss. "You're so cool sometimes. Like a ninja. A super sneaky awesome ninja." 

"Thank you? I wanted to get back at them for being rude to you. I hope you like it." 

"Oh, it's terrible. I love it so much." Already, he was wondering where he could hang it, and how he would explain it to the rest of the gang. "You're the best." 

Zuko preened, a prideful look gracing his features at the praise. 

"It's a pity you couldn't snag anything from that awful snooty spa, though." Sokka frowned, remembering the front desk lady's biting words. 

Zuko hummed, considering. "Maybe not, but I can think of another way to steal from them." 

"Oh?" Sokka asked, not following his logic. "How do you figure?"

"Like… give each other a little spa treatment." 

The way Zuko's good ear tinted pink finally clued Sokka into what he was going for. "Ooh, you mean, give each other massages? That could be fun!" 

"That's exactly what I was thinking." He seemed to relax a bit, grateful that Sokka picked up on his strong hints. "We have to keep quiet, though. I think Uncle's probably asleep by now, but I don't want to risk waking him."

"Oh? You sound pretty confident in your skills, Mr. Big Shot." It was maybe laying it on a bit thick. He didn't want to scare Zuko off, after all. Then again, it _had_ been the prince who offered…

Zuko scowled through his intense blush. "Just take your shirt off." 

"Ooh, pushy! Is this really how you treat all the girls- hey!" Sokka yelped as Zuko simply tugged at the tie on his belt, loosening the tunic. "Okay, okay, I get it! Geez!" 

Finally acquiescing to Zuko's demands, Sokka fully shucked his top, exposing his back to whatever the Fire Prince had planned. 

He waited for Zuko to begin for a long moment, the firebender just breathing deeply in long, meditative pulls. He grew antsy, sitting half-nude in the other boy's apartment, and peeked over his shoulder to see what the holdup was. 

_Strike one._

Zuko was breathing licks of flame into his open palms, the firelight flickering across his features harshly, showing off his sharp angles and high cheekbones. His eyes flicked up to meet Sokka's, dancing sparks wavering in the brilliant irises, and Sokka swallowed harshly. 

"Just warming up my hands…" Zuko murmured by way of explanation. 

"Right." Sokka croaked. He began to wonder if this had really been such a good idea in the first place. 

"Turn around. I'm getting started." Zuko ordered.

"Yes, sir." It came out far less mocking and far more seriously than Sokka had intended. 

Even though he was expecting the warm touch, it still came as a surprise. Zuko began with a light touch, mapping out the muscles of Sokka's back, searching for knots in the tissue and transferring that melting heat along the way. Sokka hummed appreciatively. 

"Good?" Zuko checked. 

Not trusting his voice, Sokka simply nodded eagerly.

"Good." Zuko continued, beginning to apply more pressure, working his way up slowly. "Let me know if it's too much." 

"Mmhmm." Sokka agreed, strained. It wasn't the firmness of the massage he was worried about now. It seemed increasingly apparent his primary worry was embarrassing himself in front of the prince. 

Slowly, Zuko worked his way down along Sokka's spine, kneading the muscle to either side with measured, deliberate motions, until he reached the waistband of his pants. 

_Strike two._

"Oh, it seems like you've got a lot of tension here. May I…?" 

Sokka nodded. "Go ahead! Whatever you gotta do!" His voice cracked and squeaked along the way. He was grateful Zuko couldn't see his face, but he'd probably given himself away, regardless. 

Zuko slid the waistband down his hips just a little further, aiming for the muscles at the lowest part of his back. The pressure grew painful, momentarily, but Zuko backed off the moment he flinched. Warm, firm fingers worked their way around the tender spot, kneading the muscle into looseness carefully, loosening the tension in Sokka's gut as they went.

"Wow, you're really good at this, actually. Where'd a fancy-pants prince pick this up?" He asked. 

Zuko hummed, absorbed in his work. "On the ship. Uncle's really good at it, always walked me through what he was doing. I spent a lot of time training, and all the time stressed, so it became a regular thing."

Oh, great. This was a _family bonding_ kind of thing for Zuko, and here Sokka was making it _super weird. Keep it together, man!_

"Oh, that's cool." He said, with all the casualness he could muster. 

(That is to say, none.)

"You ready for me to do you, next?" He tried, with the same failure at a casual attitude as before. "Uh, I mean, like… I don't have the kind of practice you do, but I could give it a try." 

"Okay." Zuko gave one last firm rub at the muscles he'd been working, dangerously close to Sokka's ass, and the warrior felt a mix of relief (that the muscles were no longer painfully tense) and guilty excitement (seriously, he didn't mean it like that, get it together, Sokka!) at the motion. 

He hid his face from Zuko for as long as possible, carefully sliding his tunic back on and tying the belt as meticulously as possible, but he eventually had to turn and face the consequences of his choices. 

Those consequences being Zuko's naked, pale, scarred back, presented to him with full, unrelenting trust. 

_Strike three._

Sokka hovered for a long time. Too long. He didn't know where to put his hands, terrified of what he might do unconsciously, terrified of making a wrong move and hurting Zuko somehow, terrified that the flickering, burning sensation in his gut was getting stronger, now, and he still had laughably poor control over the fire that may or may not come out. 

"Sokka?" Zuko finally asked, turning to glance over his shoulder, and that's what finally did him in. Zuko's flushed cheek, the nervous tilt of his eyebrow, the demure pose right out of his fantasies… 

Sokka bolted for the door. 

\---

So maybe Sokka avoided Zuko for a few days after. Who can blame him? He'd barely escaped with his pride intact, and couldn't even _think_ about the other boy without succumbing to a soul-wrenching urge to curl up into a ball and scream. 

He hadn't even taken the damn poetry scroll with him when he'd escaped! What if Zuko thought that meant he didn't appreciate the gesture?! Not to mention, he'd have to go _back_ to that _apartment_ and see _Zuko_ to get it back! 

He could never avoid the other boy forever, though, as a certain spirit was determined to push them together with as much force as necessary. 

"I get it, I get it, I'm coming!" Sokka groaned. He'd wished he could get back to sleep, but Jin Lu's incessant braying was hard to ignore. 

Satisfied, the spirit turned to walk off. Sokka briefly wondered if he could trick it into walking off without him, and even got as far as pulling the blanket back over his head, but the next moment found him in the street and on his ass. 

"Ugh, fine!" He stomped off after the undoubtedly smug deer, refusing to pick up speed to keep up. 

Regardless, he found himself soon deposited in the Lower Ring apartment, faced with the very person he'd been avoiding. 

"Sokka! I thought maybe something had happened to you… where have you been?" 

Oh, great, and now he felt _guilty_ for making Zuko worry. 

"Hi, Zuko. You know, just… busy. Doing… you know, the stuff we're here for. Avatar business." 

Zuko stiffened. "Have you been… avoiding me?" 

Damn, saw through him in an instant. "What? No!" 

Zuko chewed his lip, retreating to the low bed. "I made it weird, didn't I? Last time. That's why you ran away like that." He worried at his nails, shrinking in on himself. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have suggested… that. It was stupid." 

"No, no! I-" In order to salvage this, Sokka would have to tell the truth. But how could he admit it? "Actually, I kind of thought _I_ made it weird. I bolted because, well… I was maybe getting a little _too_ into it?" He squeaked. 

"What?" Zuko looked up to meet his eyes, genuinely surprised. Sokka couldn't hold his gaze.

"Yeah, I, uh… it was really nice? Like, maybe we could try it again sometime, but, like… I could feel my, like, fire… chi… stuff, you know, doing its thing. And I maybe freaked out a little?" 

"Oh." Zuko blinked up at him owlishly. 

"Yep." 

"You know… didn't you say that for the bending resonance thing to work, we both had to be feeling… the same thing?" 

"Yeah? Why- oh!" It suddenly clicked. Just like at the firelit fountain before, the burning in his gut had been twofold. And, as Zuko was now hinting at strongly, that meant he'd been just as _into it_ as Sokka had been. And if that was the case… "Oh." He repeated, lamely.

"Yeah. Oh." Zuko teased, cracking a shy smile. 

"I guess I was kind of an idiot." He mumbled. "But what else is new?" 

"I'm glad you weren't, y'know… freaked out because of me. I've been trying to tell myself that you wouldn't- that you already- It's just kind of hard to remind myself that not everywhere is like home. That this- us- that we can be okay." The tiny smile faded, and Zuko's closed posture returned. 

Sokka felt his heart tug sharply. He let out a heavy sigh. "Damn it, Zuko… I really, really wanna kiss you right now. Actually, you know what? I'm gonna wake myself up and go find you right now. I can make this happen. You need kisses and cuddles, and I'm gonna fill your prescription." 

Zuko snorted. "Please don't. I need to be up early in the morning to open the tea shop." 

"Fine! But the minute you guys open, I'll be there! Mark my words!"

\---

Sokka was not the only one to show up right as Lee opened the doors. 

"Did you two hear about the festival coming up?" Jin asked, casually stirring honey into her tea. 

Beside her, Sokka frowned at the menu. "What kind of festival?"

"It's the anniversary of the founding of Ba Sing Se. The Earth King usually gives a speech up in the Upper Ring, but other than that, it's just your usual festival type things. Games, street food, decorations. Sokka, you should try the oolong, it's really good." 

"Lee, what do you think?" Sokka asked, eyes flicking up for just a moment before returning to their focussed reading. 

"About the festival, or about the tea?" He asked, not following the hopping conversation threads.

"Oh, uh, both, I guess." Sokka shrugged. 

"The festival sounds nice. Will there be fireworks? We missed the finale last time." 

Jin nodded. "The official display gets set off near the palace, so the Upper and Middle rings get a really good view. The city's so big we don't see much down here, but plenty of people set off their own fireworks. Sometimes a firework maker will work with some other merchants to set up a more structured display, but not always." She explained. 

Sokka grinned. "We'll have to keep an ear out, then. I think I'd like to see as many fireworks as possible this time."

"And Uncle thinks you should try this new jasmine and lavender blend he's trying out, but my favorite is the peach tea." 

"Ooh, get me that one, then!" Sokka ordered, fluttering his eyelashes. 

Lee smirked. Uncle always complained about fruit teas, saying that, while they were delicious, they didn't really count as tea. If he could get Sokka on his team about this, it would be a _sweet_ victory. 

\---

Early in the evening, the two boys had toured areas of the Lower Ring where there were rumors about unofficial fireworks displays, but as the night grew ever darker, Sokka dragged Lee along with him to the higher rings, using his status as an honored guest to get them a better view. They stopped short of heading all the way to the Upper Ring, not caring to attend some stuffy viewing party at some gazebo, preferring to find a nice, secluded Middle Ring rooftop to kick back and soak in the view. 

Although Sokka knew he'd been getting stronger lately, having put in plenty of training hours since the Fire Days festival, it still surprised him just how much easier it suddenly was to haul himself up onto the rooftops. Sure, he didn't have Zuko's grace or finesse, but he definitely didn't struggle nearly as much. 

Still, he allowed Zuko to select the path they took, and even accepted a hand up the harder climbs. He could acknowledge true expertise when he saw it and, as usual, Zuko had it in droves. 

"How's this?" Zuko asked, standing tall on the roof of the inn they'd climbed, looking out over the wall into the Upper Ring. 

Sokka took a little longer than necessary to triple-check his footing before even glancing at the view. 

What he saw took his breath away. 

"Yeah… yeah, this is perfect. That green wall right there, that's the palace. I don't think we're getting better than this." Not only that, but the first blasts were beginning to fire, and they were far brighter and more varied than any fireworks Sokka had ever seen before. From here, they could see each explosive in its entirety, from the first sparks to the dying embers. 

Satisfied, Zuko sat at the edge of the roof, tugging Sokka down to join him. His stomach swooped at the scale of the drop before them, but the roof was sturdy enough to hold them steady, and with an ornate edging that gave them an easy grip. 

"Scared of heights?" Zuko murmured, leaning into his ear to be heard properly. "I'd think flying around on that bison would have cured you by now."

"Uh, yeah, not really, just… Usually, on Appa, there's also Aang there. I've fallen out of the saddle before and, let me tell you, not fun!" 

Zuko laughed at that, and Sokka flushed. 

"Shut up! It's not funny! You're just… you're inhuman, is what you are! It's a natural, reasonable fear!" 

"Sure, sure." Zuko waved a hand dismissively, shifting his weight to lean further into the body beside him. "If it's distracting you from the fireworks, we can go somewhere else."

"If anything, _you're_ distracting me." Sokka accused. 

That only prompted Zuko to lean in further, brushing his nose against Sokka's. "Oh? Is that so?" 

Sokka pushed his face away. "I don't like this Zuko. Give me back the awkward one." 

"You don't like it when I tease you?" Zuko teased. "You're so soft and fragile you need me to be sweet to you all the time?" 

"Yes, actually, that's exactly right!" Sokka huffed, but that didn't mean he _stopped_ Zuko from pressing gentle kisses all around his face. The firebender's warm lips peppered his cheekbones, his temples, his jawline, even his eyelids, before settling into their favorite place, pressed against his own. 

"Is this sweet enough for you, my delicate flower?" Zuko smirked against his lips, golden eyes boring into his own from scant inches away. 

"Mmm, I've got to think about it. You've really hurt me, you know, so I'm feeling very tender right now." Sokka hummed.

"More kisses to soothe your bruised ego, then?" Zuko suggested. 

"Yes, please." 

\---

The fireworks died down, preparing for the big finale. The crowds below them grew thick, the competing smells of a variety of foodstuffs wafting up even as high as they sat. 

Sokka had ended up nearly in Zuko's lap, leaning heavily into him. If he slipped now, he'd be in no position to catch himself. 

He knew Zuko would never let that happen. 

Gaze drifting down to the crowd below them, Sokka saw something novel. "Hey, what are those?"

"What are what?" Zuko murmured into his hair, where his face had been pressed for the last several minutes. 

"Those! The little fireworks the kids are running around with!" The light had caught his eye at first, worried about the errant sparks, but it had quickly become evident these were some fun toy. 

"Oh, the sparklers?" Zuko clarified. Sokka looked to him for further explanation. "They're on a little stick, so you can hold them safely. Mostly just kids play with them, but I've seen performers use them to draw shapes, too. Using the afterimage of the sparks." 

Sokka watched for a long moment. "I wanna try." He decided. 

Zuko hummed. "Can you feel your chi?" He asked, tracing gentle, tickling fingers across Sokka's stomach. 

"What? Why?" Sokka frowned, then gasped as his meaning clicked into place. "You can do that? With your bending?"

Zuko nodded, like it was no big deal. Sokka nearly vibrated with excitement. 

"It's fading a bit, but it's still there. Wanna spark my fire, Flame Boy?" Sokka puckered up his lips, clasping his hands beneath his chin. 

Zuko chuckled, but complied, pulling Sokka into another array of passionate kisses. Satisfied with the warming in his gut, Sokka pulled back, sighing a quick lick of flame for good measure. 

"Mm, quick work this time. You're getting good at this." He praised. 

Zuko rolled his eyes, tugging Sokka back into his lap. "Come on, we don't have much time before the finale starts. I don't want to miss it again." 

"If we do, we'll just have to go to another festival together. Won't that be terrible." 

"Just awful." Zuko agreed. Taking one of Sokka's hands in his own, he breathed deeply, letting a fountain of tiny sparks flow out on the exhale. It looked so much like the children's toys, the sparklers, that Sokka couldn't help but wriggle with glee. 

"My turn, my turn!" He insisted. Zuko talked him through it, explaining the sensation he should be going for, and he startled himself when it only took him a couple tries to produce the sparks. 

"Good!" Zuko praised. "You're getting really good control already." 

"I've got a good teacher."

They missed the first few blasts of the finale, distracted by the flavor of each others' lips, but it was no huge loss. 

After all, it was just an excuse to attend another festival together later.

Later…

First, they had to ensure that there would _be_ a 'later'. So much was riding on each and every one of their decisions…

"I wish we could stay like this forever." He mumbled, leaning heavily into Zuko's chest. 

"Here? I thought you were scared of heights?" 

Sokka gently smacked his arm. "Not _here_ here. I mean here, together, in Ba Sing Se." 

"Then stay." Zuko replied, seriously. 

"You know I can't do that. Too much is riding on us. Once we finish what we came here to do, we have to be moving on." 

Zuko squeezed him tighter, like if he held tightly enough, the relentless march of time wouldn't pull them apart. "When do you meet with the Earth King?"

That's right. He'd kept a lot of information from him, hadn't he? "Joo Dee said it would take six to eight weeks to get us in. And that's with the Avatar being given priority." 

Zuko slumped. "And you've been here for…" 

"Just over five weeks." Sokka confirmed. 

"That's not much time left, then." Zuko sighed, resigned. 

"I'll come back, after. Whenever I can. I'll visit." 

It was an empty promise. When would they have time, between Aang's rushed training and their war plans? What if they couldn't face the Fire Lord in time, and Sozin's Comet came and went? How long would Ba Sing Se even stand as a stronghold?

Zuko pressed a firm kiss to his temple. "I'll be waiting. As long as it takes." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not much left now! gonna try to power thru the end of book 2 as quick as i can bc ive got fabric ordered for my fire lord zuko cosplay and i wanna be my boy so bad and also halloweens only 2 months away!!  
> p.s. as always, chapter art is by me! find me at jovialjuggernaut-draws.tumblr.com


	24. Lake Laogai

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bigger deviation from canon in this one!

Sokka frowned at the poster as though it, personally, had wronged him. To be fair to the poster, it was merely the face of betrayal, but it was nearer than Katara or Aang were right now, so it had to take the full brunt of his ire. 

Sure, he couldn't be considered a  _ professional  _ artist, but effort and passion were important to take into consideration, too! And besides, the  _ professional  _ artist hadn't captured any of Appa's personality in the sketch! Sure, it was a more technically  _ accurate  _ depiction of a sky bison, but Appa wasn't just  _ any  _ sky bison!

Then again, there weren't exactly many around, were there? They didn't know for sure, but there was a possibility that they were entirely extinct except for the one notable specimen.

Sokka huffed, slapping glue onto the wall and abandoning the offending poster there. 

Katara, along with Toph, had opted to take the Upper Ring, where the two had spent more time and where Toph's lofty connections may come in handy. Aang had taken the middle ring by default, as Sokka taking the Lower Ring just made  _ sense.  _ He'd spent more time there than anywhere else, than any _ one  _ else, and was friendly with businesses that might let him put posters up in their shops. 

He also didn't want to risk anyone bumping into you-know-who, but that wasn't something he could tell the others to convince them. 

The sun climbed ever higher in the sky, the summer heat quickly growing uncomfortable, and Sokka reasoned he'd gotten enough work done to justify a quick tea break. 

The Pao Family Tea Shop was abuzz when he stepped inside, the patrons excitedly congratulating Uncle Mushi. 

"What's the occasion?" He asked, nudging through the crowd to the beaming old man. 

"Oh, Sokka! We have just received wonderful news! You see, I have been offered my own tea shop in the Upper Ring! As soon as everything has been settled, we will be moving to a new apartment there. It should be just a few days from now!" 

"That's great!" Sokka allowed himself to be pulled in for a firm hug, returning the embrace with just as much joy. "It'll certainly save me the trip every time." 

"I'm sure Lee will be very pleased to have you so nearby, as well." Uncle Mushi teased, a familiar mischievous twinkle lighting his amber eyes. 

"Uncle, please." Lee grumbled, appearing from the back room. He soon found himself with an armful of excited Sokka, as the boy tugged him into a hug of his own. "Hey, it's good to see you. You have good timing."

Sokka laughed. "That's a first, isn't it?" 

"Come on, your luck's not  _ that  _ bad." Lee's hands slipped down to his waist, holding him loosely, and he tilted his head curiously upon finding the satchel there. "What's with the bag? Brought more gifts? You know, that case is going to fill up, eventually." 

"Oh, uh, no, actually. Sorry. I wasn't really planning to come here today, so I didn't pick anything up." Sokka suddenly felt naked, unused to showing up empty-handed. Even when he forgot a proper gift, he would usually at least swing by the bakery on the way. 

Lee tugged him toward the kitchen with gentle pressure through his grip, leading him by the hips away from the crowd. "Let's let Uncle have his moment. We can talk privately in here." 

Sokka didn't argue, following along while waving at the patrons who recognized him. He had  _ maybe  _ been spending more time than reasonable here, especially lately. No one had asked any questions yet, though, so he was probably fine. 

"So, what are you doing today? If you weren't planning to pop in, that must mean you're busy." 

"Very perceptive." Sokka admitted. "It's just… Avatar business. Aang asked me to do a thing." 

"And it has to do with that bag?" Zuko pressed. 

"What? No! ...Well, yes, but…" Sokka wracked his brain for any excuse, coming up empty. He'd avoided mentioning Appa to Zuko so far, not wanting to put it into his head that the team were basically sitting ducks with no easy escape route. He wanted this peace to last, after all. 

Zuko caught privy to the hesitation, and dipped his fingers into the satchel. Obviously shocked to find papers inside, he furrowed his brow and yanked one out. 

There was the incriminating document, serving up a secondary betrayal. "The Avatar's bison is missing? When did this happen?" 

"Uhh, a few days ago? Appa just… flew off! I guess!" Sokka tried. 

"It says here 'last seen in the Si Wong Desert', and this date… this is from before you all arrived in Ba Sing Se. This is why you're here?"

The evidence was damning, and trying to talk around it clearly wasn't helping. "...Yes. We're looking for Appa. He was stolen from us soon after that whole thing with Azula… remember when I mentioned the spirit library?" 

"And you  _ lied  _ to me about this?" Zuko crumpled the poster in his hand, his expression following suit. Even though Sokka thought the poster deserved it for all it had done, he hated seeing Zuko like this. "Sokka… you really don't trust me? Even after all this time?"

"No! No, I just-" There was no excuse. Some part of him always expected Zuko to take the first opportunity to resume his all-important mission, to eskew the consequences and bow to the Fire Lord's will. "I just didn't want to dangle the temptation in front of you, I guess."

Zuko took a shuddering breath. "Sokka, I… how can you not see that the most powerful temptation of all… is you standing right in front of me?" 

That was… that was too much. Sokka wasn't sure he remembered how to breathe. "Zuko…" 

"What if… what if I helped you find the bison? There must be something the Avatar hasn't tried yet. If I can find it, and return it to you, and I let you all fly away with it, would you trust me then?" 

"Zuko, I…"  _ I already trust you,  _ he wanted to say. It wasn't true enough, though. Not when Zuko kept expressing doubts. Doubt about doing the right thing, doubt about what the right thing even  _ was. _ "Yes. Yes, of course."

"Good." Zuko nodded, still gripping the poster tightly. "Meet me at the fountain tonight. I'll come up with something." 

He wanted to argue. He wanted to reassure Zuko, tell him he didn't need to constantly prove himself, tell him not to put himself into unnecessary danger, tell him the team had everything handled.

"Okay. I'll see you there." He said, instead. 

\---

Katara held the spike of ice aimed squarely at Jet's neck, inching it closer to prove how dead serious she was. "Why are you here, Jet? Haven't you learned your lesson yet?" 

She shouldn't have been surprised to see him, not after what Sokka had told them. She knew the Freedom Fighter was in the city, knew he was still attacking innocent people without provocation, but Sokka had told them Jet had been arrested along with him. 

He shouldn't have been here, in the Middle Ring, right when she and Toph had regrouped with Aang. 

"Katara, please! I'm here to help!" Jet insisted, holding up one of their posters. "I can help you find Appa!" 

"And why should I trust you? You attacked my brother! You got him taken by the Dai Li!" Finally, Aang and Toph found the two of them, rounding the corner and falling into battle stances beside her. 

"Why would I do that?! I've been living peacefully here in the city, trying to help people!" Jet claimed. "Where… where  _ is  _ Sokka?" 

"He's late." Aang noted, shifting his weight nervously. 

Jet scoffed. "He's probably with…" He trailed off, eyebrows drawn.

"With? With who?" Katara prompted. 

Jet huffed. "I don't remember." He growled, frustrated. 

"You don't  _ remember?!  _ You were about to accuse my  _ brother  _ of something, and you don't  _ remember? _ " She couldn't believe the nerve of this guy!

"I don't know, okay! It's like my memory's… fuzzy. I'm sure I haven't seen him since the hideout, but it's also like… I'm totally pissed at him for something I can't remember." 

"Oh, and now you're claiming amnesia. Fantastic." Katara crossed her arms, willing her glare to burn a hole into Jet's ugly skull. 

"He's not just claiming it." Toph stepped forward, placing a hand flat to the wall beside him. "I can tell when people are lying, and he's not. He's telling the truth." 

"Handy trick…" Jet mumbled, glancing nervously at the tiny earthbender. "Well? Is that good enough for you?" 

"Fine." Katara allowed the ice spears to melt, drawing the water back into her pouch. "So, what's your idea?" 

\---

Jet led them to a barn, where the worker told them Appa had already been taken to Whaletail Island. Katara and Aang frowned at the map, trying to gauge the distance they'd have to travel. 

"We got from here to… here? In three days with Appa, so that would be… how long on foot?" Katara chewed her lip.

"Ugh, where's Sokka when we need him!" Aang groaned. 

"You guys really get around without being able to read maps?" Jet asked, smirking at their efforts.

" _ Usually,  _ Sokka doesn't go missing on us! Why don't you read it, then, Smug Guy?" Katara huffed. 

Jet scratched his head, clearing his throat. "I, uh… I can't read. Longshot reads the maps." 

"See?! You have no room to judge!" Katara snapped, returning her attention to the indecipherable map. "Let's get back to the rendezvous spot. Maybe Sokka will be looking for us by now. We need him to help us make a plan." 

"Okay, then let's go!" Jet stood, stretched, and led the way out of the barn. 

"Should we really, um, take Jet along?" Aang piped up. 

"What? Why wouldn't you?" Jet looked between each of them with surprise. 

"You did say you were mad at Sokka for some reason…" Aang continued, looking guilty for even bringing it up. "Will you be okay if he's there?" 

"Aang makes a good point." Katara agreed, if only to see the boy relax. "Sokka told us you attacked him in the street. We need to be sure he'll be safe if we bring you along." 

"I don't even know why I did that.  _ If  _ I did that. Did it occur to you that he might have been lying?" Jet challenged. 

Katara opened her mouth to express her certainty, but realized it wasn't there. Sokka  _ had  _ been running off a lot, missing rendezvous times, not contributing much to brainstorming sessions… Then there was his mysteriously dwindling wallet. Despite Toph's accusations that he was out buying expensive gifts for Zuko, no such gifts had appeared. Katara chewed her lip, her doubts in Sokka bubbling to the surface. "No, it hadn't."

"He wasn't." Toph stated with finality. Oh, yeah, her earthbending trick. "When he told us what happened that night, he was telling the truth. Jet  _ did  _ attack him, and they  _ were  _ both arrested for it." 

"If Sokka was telling the truth…" Aang began.

"But so was Jet." Katara continued. 

"This is getting too confusing." Aang decided, sliding a hand along his smooth scalp. "How can they both be telling the truth?" 

"Let's find Sokka. Maybe he can help clear things up." 

\---

Sokka paced around the square where they'd agreed to meet. Sure, he was roughly an hour late, having lost time between his talk with Zuko and running into Jin, but surely they would wait for him! Unless, of course, they were in some kind of trouble…

Lost in his own racing thoughts, detailing all the worst-case scenarios he could imagine, he nearly ran straight into Smellerbee, only stopped by Longshot's hand against his chest, alerting him to their presence. 

"Shit! You guys!" Sokka slipped into a defensive stance, reaching for his boomerang. 

"Wait!" Smellerbee shouted, holding out her hands desperately. "We're not here to start trouble!" 

"Yeah, right. Last time I saw you guys,  _ you _ were tailing me constantly," he pointed the boomerang at Longshot, then slid it over to point at Smellerbee, "and  _ you  _ tried to  _ kill  _ me! Why would I trust either of you!"

"We were following Jet's orders then, but the Freedom Fighters have been disbanded since then! I know you had that run-in with Jet-"

"You mean where he attacked my  _ soulmate  _ in the middle of the street?"

"-But we had nothing to do with that! We're trying to start over here, turn over new leaves, all of that!" 

Now that they mentioned it, he hadn't seen either of them around at all. He had no way of knowing if they were even here with their leader- or, ex-leader, if Smellerbee was telling the truth. 

"Smellerbee? Longshot?" A familiar voice rang out across the square. "What are you guys doing here?" 

Sokka spun, keeping the duo in his periphery as he turned to face Jet, his boomerang already poised for the throw. "The Freedom Fighters disbanded, huh?" 

"We  _ did _ \- ugh, Jet, what's going on? We saw you get taken by the Dai Li!" Smellerbee sounded genuinely shocked to see him. 

"So, Jet's the only one who doesn't know he was arrested?" Katara asked, stepping into the square as well, followed closely by the rest of the team. 

"What do you mean Jet doesn't remember?" Sokka asked, eyeing him over. Jet didn't  _ seem _ to be as combative as he had been when they parted ways. 

"He says he hasn't seen you since the hideout. Toph thinks he's telling the truth, but you- and, apparently, these two- all saw him get taken." Katara explained. "He also said his memory is fuzzy, though, and that he remembers being angry with you, but not why."

"The Dai Li must have done something to his memory." He realized. Those labyrinths were too secretive to be just for holding prisoners. Sure, Sokka had walked free pretty easily, but maybe that was just because he was friends with Aang. 

"What, like, brainwashing?" Smellerbee frowned, looking between them. "That seems a little far-fetched." 

"So does keeping an entire war secret in a city full of refugees." Sokka countered. "I bet if we can somehow restore his memories, we might find out more about what the Dai Li are doing here. If anyone could cover up the whereabouts of an enormous and super-rare fluffy monster, it's them." 

"Good idea, Sokka." Katara acknowledged. "Let's find somewhere to do that."

"Oh, no!" Jet argued. "You're not going to mess around with my memories!" 

"Your memories have  _ already  _ been messed around with!" Sokka snapped. "There's  _ no way  _ you would be standing here, calmly listening to me talk, if your memory was intact."

"What, are you saying I was right to attack you?" Jet narrowed his eyes suspiciously. 

" _ Is  _ that what you're saying, Sokka?" The suspicion was mirrored in Katara's tone, and that  _ hurt.  _

"No! I'm just saying he's a violent jerk who holds grudges!" 

"And  _ I'm  _ saying I've changed!" 

" _ Forcibly!  _ Because the Dai Li brainwashed you!" Sokka groaned, frustrated at the circular conversation. He sighed. "Listen. We should get out of the street, regardless. We shouldn't talk about this out in the open, not with the Dai Li tailing me- tailing all of us." 

"We can use our apartment. It's in the Lower Ring." Smellerbee offered. 

"There, then. Will you come with us?" Sokka asked with forced calm, trying for his best placating tone.

Jet nodded. "If they really did something to me, I want it fixed."

Sokka hoped it would be that easy. 

\---

The sun had begun to set by the time they made it to the Freedom Fighters' apartment, and Sokka estimated it would be fully dark by the time he reached the fountain, provided he left immediately. 

Luckily, Aang gave him an out. "Sokka… If we succeed in there, and Jet remembers…" 

Sokka nodded. "Yeah. I shouldn't be here."

"What was he so mad about? Why can't you tell us?" 

If Jet regained his memories, he was certain to tell them everything. Better for Sokka to be honest, now. "He found out I can firebend." Maybe not completely honest. Lies by omission didn't count, right?

Aang's eyes widened. "Oh, no." 

"Yeah. He went totally ballistic." Aang looked sympathetic. Sokka took a deep breath, kicking at a loose rock on the earthen road. "Don't worry, I'll just make myself scarce. It's no big deal. Good luck in there. And be careful." 

Aang nodded. "Okay. We'll try." 

Sokka waited for the door to the tiny apartment to shut, and took off running. 

\---

The Blue Spirit paced, running a steady circuit around the roofs surrounding the fountain. The sun was long gone, the moon slowly rising in its place, and Sokka had not arrived yet. 

Sure, 'tonight' hadn't been a very specific timeframe, but he still had to worry when they were about to embark on a delicate mission. He'd been out in his disguise for too long already. His modus operandi was getting in, and out, as quickly as possible. Speed and silence were necessary components of stealth, and so far, they were failing the first. 

Finally,  _ finally,  _ hurried footsteps rushed into the square, carrying the tribesman out into the open, breathless. He stood near the fountain, spinning around as he searched for Zuko, and then began to pace when he found no one. 

The Blue Spirit dropped from the roof, approaching quietly. 

Sokka, predictably, startled when he was grabbed, voice muffled by the Spirit's hand, and dragged into the nearest alleyway. 

"Sokka, calm down. It's me." Even with his voice muffled by the blue mask, Sokka recognized it, gasping in shock but ceasing his struggle. 

"Zuko, you're-" 

"Shh! Keep your voice down. I have a plan, but we have to keep an eye out for the Dai Li for it to work." 

Sokka complied, lowering his voice. "You scared the shit out of me, you know!" He murmured urgently. 

"You were being too obvious. I couldn't risk you drawing attention. Now stay put, I need to go grab something." The Blue Spirit dashed away, darting over and around obstacles until he reached the hiding place. Prize secured, he returned to Sokka's side. 

His sudden reappearance startled the tribesman, a swiftly-muffled yelp cutting through the silence before he slapped a gloved hand over his own mouth. "Damn it, Zuko!"

Beneath the mask, Zuko grinned. It was too easy to mess with him, and far too fun. He schooled his expression quickly, despite the fact that Sokka couldn't see it, and held out the red-lacquered mask, the complement to his own, as well as a set of twin daggers. "Here."

Sokka took the mask gingerly, giving it a thorough inspection. "A red dragon mask? Why?" 

"For a disguise." The Blue Spirit explained. "If the Dai Li find us, we don't want to lead them back to you and your friends, right?" 

"I feel like we should switch." Sokka held the mask up next to the other, eyes dancing with amusement. 

"If our masks matched our selves, it'd be a lot more obvious who's under them. But who would expect a Water Tribe non-bender to be The Red Dragon?"

Sokka's face lit up. "The Red Dragon… that  _ is  _ kind of cool, now that you say it. What about the daggers then?"

"Same thing. You use a lot of other weapons normally, but not blades. Do you… are you comfortable using daggers? You did say you don't like using weapons you're unfamiliar with…" 

Sokka turned one of the blades over in his hands, looking it over. "I've used knives before. Not usually made of metal, but whalebone knives can't be  _ that  _ different." 

"Good." The Blue Spirit watched as Sokka donned his mask and his new identity. "My plan is to squeeze a Dai Li agent for information. If anyone's got the Avatar's bison, it has to be them." 

The Red Dragon nodded. "I thought the same thing. They brainwashed Jet- it's a long story. But that got me thinking- if they could cover up our fight, considering how public it was, they would be the ones who could cover up something as big and distinctive as Appa, right?" 

"Exactly. If he's still in the city, they'd be the ones to know about it. Now, let's get moving." 

\---

The two worked in perfect tandem to ambush an agent. The Blue Spirit used his superior speed to grab his attention before darting away, and The Red Dragon stood to face him in battle, dodging the stone cuffs long enough to give his partner an opening to restrain the agent. 

Under their combined threat, the agent revealed the location of the bison- beneath Lake Laogai, in a secret labyrinth only accessible through earthbending. 

"So that's how they got us in there last time! I could never figure out how they got us in when I never saw any exits!" 

Sokka bit his tongue, feeling the heat of Zuko's glare through his grinning blue mask. Too much information. 

The Blue Spirit returned his attention to the agent still quaking between his dao. "You will get us in."

"Yes! Yes, I will get you in. Not a problem- eek!" He gulped, hearing the blades slide against one another. 

"You will lead us there. You will not see us, but we will be following. We will be swift and decisive should you lead us astray. Understood?" 

This dangerous, threatening Zuko had grown unfamiliar with time, and it was strange to hear the tone being used like this, to offer Aang aid against a common enemy. 

Strange, and maybe a little more intriguing than it should have been. Sokka quickly buried the thought. 

\---

The Red Dragon was slow, clumsy, and noisy, and The Blue Spirit regretted his choice in partners. 

That is, up until the Dai Li agent got them into the secret labyrinth, and he suddenly took the lead. 

"We came in through that entrance there, I remember those marks in the wall. So they took Jet that way, which means that must be Brainwash Central. We want holding cells, so…"

Despite the constant low chatter, the helpfulness of the directions outweighed the risk the noise posed. The Red Dragon pointed out tiny details as though they were clear landmarks the whole way, perfectly confident in his bearings, all the way up until he led them to a corridor lined with huge doors.

"My best guess is he's in one of these, but I have no way of knowing which one." 

The Blue Spirit considered the question for a moment, and walked as quietly as possible forward. If memory served, the beast was pretty loud, always lowing and groaning in that deep tone. It also usually carried a pretty strong scent, the size of the beast likely making regular maintenance difficult, and it surely hadn't been bathed in quite some time. 

Following his senses, he stopped at the doors before his best guess. "This one." 

"Are you sure? We don't want to make a bunch of noise if you're wrong."

"Take a whiff." The Blue Spirit instructed. 

To his amusement, The Red Dragon obeyed. "Ugh! Yeah, that's Appa all right." 

Together, they worked the doors open, smashing through the lock and shoving the heavy slabs with combined, herculean effort. The bison backed up as far as its chains would allow, the heavy manacles binding it to the center of the chamber. Sokka removed his mask immediately, working to placate the beast. 

"Easy, boy. There we go. Hey, buddy. It's alright, we're gonna to get you out of here." 

Recognizing a friend, the bison lowed in greeting, whuffing and licking at Sokka with its enormous muzzle. 

"We need to get moving. We've made too much noise already." The Blue Spirit insisted, drawing his blades and preparing to strike the chains. 

The bison grew defensive, attempting to place its body between The Blue Spirit and Sokka. "Take off the mask! I think you're scaring him."

"And you think showing my face will help?! I've set him on fire before!" Zuko reminded him, moving the mask to reveal only the unscarred portions of his face. 

The beast only grew more agitated, lowering its head to point its horns his way. Despite how diminutive they appeared against the huge, shaggy head, they were terribly sharp, and each easily as long as his torso, thicker than his forearm around. If he was gored here, there'd be no getting up from it. 

Sokka sidled around to the bison's face, petting its wide nose and speaking gently. "Hey, there. Hey, there. Zuko's a friend. He's here to help, too." 

"You think it can understand you?" Zuko asked, disbelieving. 

"Aang sure seems to think so. I just know he calms down if you use a gentle voice." He continued to coo at the huge creature, as though speaking to a particularly cute baby animal and not a hundred-year-old flying monstrosity dozens of times his size. "Don't you, buddy? You calm down, yeah? There we go, all good!" 

Zuko removed his mask the rest of the way, seeing the bison back down from its aggressive stance. "I'm helping. Watch me, okay?" He said to the beast, mimicking Sokka's gentle tone. He swung his blades without flourish, allowing the bison to watch what he was doing. Quickly, the chains were broken, and the beast was free. 

Immediately, it surged forward, and he made to defend himself, but it only attacked with its giant, slobbery tongue, laving over him with presumed gratitude. "You're welcome." He grumbled, trying to right himself. 

"Are you good to fly?" Sokka asked. 

"I think I'd really rather not." Zuko responded, grimacing at the thought of soaring hundreds of feet in the air without even a saddle to grip onto. 

"I was talking to Appa, but good to know." Sokka grinned cheekily. 

The bison lowed again, shaking itself out and swinging its great paddle of a tail. 

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. Grab hold!" 

Sokka helped him ascend to the beast's back, showing him how to grip the shaggy fur and use his knees for stability. He barely had time to nod in acknowledgement when the wide tail swung again, this time creating a harsh gust that launched them into the air. 

The experience was exactly as terrifying as he had expected. 

\---

The claims Jet made when Katara's water healing restored his memories were… concerning. No, that's not right… they were actually kind of scary. 

Sokka had been spotted with a scarred firebender named 'Lee', and had bent fire himself when he jumped to 'Lee's' defense. She didn't need extra guesses to know who 'Lee' really was. 

Sokka had deliberately concealed Zuko's presence in the city. Considering this had happened over a month ago now, shortly after they had arrived in the city, it was  _ possible  _ that Zuko had only been here for a short time before leaving again. 

Unfortunately, this answered all of her other doubts in him far too neatly to ignore. 

Sokka knew the Fire Prince was in Ba Sing Se, had been secretly meeting with him, had  _ lied  _ on several occasions to conceal these facts, and was, right now, nowhere to be found. 

"I'll give you three guesses as to where he ran off to." Jet offered, sneering. 

She didn't need them. "Whatever. We don't need him. He can go off gallivanting with his  _ boyfriend  _ all he wants." She spat. "We know Appa is at Lake Laogai. Let's get going."

"Katara… please don't be mad at Sokka. We need to hear his side of the story, first." Aang pleaded. 

"We've already  _ heard  _ his side of the story, remember? It  _ left out  _ the part with Zuko in it." She argued. 

"Zuko? Who's Zuko?" Smellerbee asked, confused. 

Jet set his jaw. "'Lee' was a fake name. Of course." 

"I can't imagine Sokka found some  _ other  _ firebender with a scar." Katara replied pointedly. 

"Unless he has a type, and, like, unbelievable luck." Toph joked. 

"Not the time, Toph." Katara snapped. 

"Zuko, Zuko… why does that sound familiar?" Jet mumbled to himself. 

Smellerbee's eyes widened. "Jet… we've heard that name before. The soldiers we've ambushed have mentioned a 'Zuko' a few times… A 'Prince Zuko'." 

"Katara?" Jet's voice was strained, like he was pleading for her to argue. 

She grit her teeth. "The boy you saw Sokka with is the Fire Prince." She confirmed. 

Jet laughed, the sound like it was simply bubbling up on top of a boiling vat of rage. "I  _ knew  _ it. The whole time, I knew it. A traitor, through and through. I bet he and his royal, ash-making  _ fuckbuddy  _ are plotting the downfall of Ba Sing Se right now." 

"You don't know that." Aang argued. "We don't know why he was keeping quiet about this. Maybe he just didn't want us to worry." 

"I'd think the fact that it's the Fire Lord's  _ son  _ would be incriminating enough, don't you?" Jet glared at the monk, daring him to argue again. 

"Jet…" Aang began, but backed off at the fury in the Freedom Fighter's face. 

"We can discuss this  _ after  _ we free Appa. Okay?" Katara needed the distraction. It felt like old wounds were being scraped back open. She'd felt this betrayal before, and it didn't get any easier to bear. Was Sokka really on their side? Could she really trust him? 

But then, she'd promised, hadn't she? That Sokka would never lose her trust? 

...Had she given that promise too easily, after all?

\---

Appa landed heavily on the shores of Lake Laogai, as though still getting his aerial bearings after being earthbound for so long. Sokka only barely managed to stop Zuko from sliding off, especially as his own grip was unsteady, but they remained safely on top of the bison. 

"Whew! Quite an escape, huh?" Sokka cheered.

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" Zuko complained. 

Sokka rubbed his back in an attempted soothing motion. "Luckily, this is your stop. Unless you want Katara to threaten you when she sees you."

"No, thank you. Little sisters are terrifying." 

He was completely serious, and Sokka couldn't help but laugh. "Don't let either of them hear you say that. They'd be mortified to be compared to one another." 

That earned him a quirk of Zuko's lips as he fought hard to hide the smile threatening to shine through. "They're really way too similar, aren't they?" 

Sokka soaked in the moment for just a bit longer, before sliding down from Appa's back. When Zuko did not immediately follow, he glanced back up, assuming he needed help on the dismount. 

Instead, he saw him staring at the Blue Spirit mask, turning it over in his hands. "I can't hold onto this any longer." 

"What? Why not? It's pretty cool. You do your cool ninja stunts in your cool ninja getup, all ha-cha!" Sokka did some imitation of martial arts forms, purposely hamming it up. 

He didn't get the laugh he was going for. "If I make it out of this okay, I can't risk using it again. We drew a lot of attention tonight and… I don't want to risk Uncle's new shop." 

Sokka realized suddenly the momentous risk Zuko had taken in joining him in this mission. "Thank you. For doing this. I'm sorry I couldn't- I'm sorry I made you feel like you needed to prove yourself to me. I- Just, thank you. It means a lot." 

Zuko nodded, sliding down to join him on the shore. He handed over the mask. "Do you want to do the honors? You've got the better throwing arm." 

Sokka took the mask, debating for a minute whether to just keep it, but acknowledged Zuko's desire for a symbolic gesture. He wound up, putting a good spin on it, and flung it out towards the middle of the lake. As expected, it skipped a couple times before finally sinking into the depths. 

There was a quiet moment, as they watched the ribbons of the mask slowly disappear behind the grinning face, and then the still was broken by the sudden appearance of several stone bridges rising from the depths.

Sokka knew before the first agent crawled through a manhole that they'd been found out. "Shit, get going! I'll be a distraction!" 

Zuko disappeared almost immediately, taking to the craggy cliffs beside them, his climbing speed inhuman, as usual. 

Sokka slipped his red-lacquered mask back over his face, leaping up onto Appa's bare back once more. "Come on, buddy! We need to hold them off!" 

\---

To say they were surprised to see Sokka at Lake Laogai, astride Appa and fending off dozens of Dai Li agents, would be an understatement. Long Feng himself arrived not far behind the group, and faced Appa's personal vendetta. After a quick skirmish, there were no Dai Li left in fighting condition, and the group's attention turned to Sokka. 

"This is where you've been? Freeing Appa by yourself?" Katara cried, pulling him into a tight hug. She felt awful that she'd doubted him, that she'd let  _ Jet  _ make her doubt him. Again. 

Speaking of Jet… 

"Hey, woah, hold up! I'm guessing you successfully got him his memories back?" Sokka yelped, facing the intimidating hook of one of Jet's blades. 

Katara stood between them, calling upon the lake's plentiful water to defend her brother. "Stand down, Jet. He wasn't doing any of those things you accused him of!" 

"He's a firebender, Katara! How are you defending him right now?! After everything firebenders took from us!" 

"It's not his fault, Jet! It's a soulmate thing, okay? I can airbend too, but that doesn't make me an Air Nomad any more than firebending makes Sokka Fire Nation!" 

"Soulmates again…?" Jet choked. "Are you guys serious with that crap?!" 

"Yeah, he didn't believe me when I tried to explain it, either." Sokka sighed. 

"Even if that  _ is  _ true, that just means the other half of his soul is Fire Nation, which is just as bad! He's destined to betray us, Katara, no matter which way you look at it! Why are you being so stubborn about this?!" 

"Because he's my brother, Jet! Because if I can't trust my family, I can't trust anyone! I trusted you, remember? And you betrayed us, you did way more to betray us than Sokka ever has! And here you go again, twisting the facts to make me doubt him, to make me trust  _ you! _ How do you not see that  _ you're  _ the worse person, here?!" Katara could feel the tears gathering in her eyes, but she wouldn't let some frustrated crying slow her down, not when she had something important to get off her chest. "He spent this whole time trying to find Appa on his own! He found him and rescued him and you were  _ wrong,  _ Jet! You're always  _ wrong!"  _

Jet looked like she'd struck a physical blow against him, despite the fact that she'd held the water perfectly still through the whole speech. "Katara…" 

"Jet, she has a point. You get so worked up sometimes that you can't see both sides." Smellerbee glanced over at Katara, checking on her before returning her attention to Jet. Katara let the water return to the lake. "I think Sokka's really trying to do the right thing here."

"The Fire Nation are monsters, every last one of them-"

"Do you think I haven't seen the same things you have, Jet?" Sokka countered. "The people they've killed, the places they've burned, the families they've uprooted and torn apart? Our people have been chipped away, little by little, until our capital city became a little fishing village. That's all that's left of us. And you think I don't  _ know?"  _

"And yet, you still think there's some of them worth giving a damn about." Jet scowled.

"Yes, I do! Because for all the bullshit the Fire Nation pulled everywhere else, they've been destroying their own people at the same time! Regular people, kids, even! The Fire Nation is full of  _ people,  _ Jet, humans just like us!" 

"You really believe that, just because the  _ prince  _ told you it was true? You believe him over your own eyes?" 

Sokka stiffened, clearly shocked Jet knew Zuko's identity, but pressed on. "The  _ prince  _ is one of those people getting fucked over! The Fire Nation is trying to kill him right now, just for trying to do the right thing! His own sister was sent to assassinate him!" 

"Please. You don't think they're working together? Naïve."

Katara thought Jet had a point there. How did they know for sure Azula wasn't putting on a show for them? She'd already proven herself to be manipulative and strategic. 

"It wouldn't be the first time the Fire Lord tried to have him killed." Sokka shot back, and everyone stared at him in shock. "The day Ozai took the throne, I found him crying, because his shithead little sister told him their father was going to kill him. He was eleven, Jet. Do you think he was pulling a long con? Since he was  _ eleven _ ?" 

"Well-" 

"When he was banished, three years ago, his father burnt half his face off. I found him in a ship's medical bay, the skin melting off of his bones, and I thought he had  _ died.  _ I couldn't believe it when we saw him again, three years later. Do you think that injury was just to buy sympathy? Do you think he was left with a burn that bad to be cared for on a boat just for the long game you think he's playing here?"

"That's where he got-?" 

"If he says he's on the run from his father, from the Fire Nation, I think it's not crazy to say I believe him. He's not our enemy, Jet, and I'm not yours, either." 

There was a chilling silence as everyone took in Sokka's zealous rant. Even Jet, with his black-and-white view of things, had run out of arguments. He slid his blades into their places on his back, standing down.

"Now that we've established that I'm not the fucking enemy here, we need to figure out our next move." Sokka took charge of planning, as he'd become accustomed. "I think what we need to do next is take things up with the Earth King. With Long Feng underwater, we have a window of opportunity to get to the King and present him with our invasion plan, free from the Dai Li's influence. You guys have to trust me on this one, but there's a lot of screwed up stuff going on down there."

"I remember." Jet concurred. For them to agree, it must have been greivous. 

"We can expose the Dai Li's crimes at the same time. Jet, Longshot, Smellerbee, you guys get back to town. Appa can't hold this many people at once, especially without a saddle."

"Oh, no. I'm not letting you guys do this without me. If you're planning a strike against the Fire Nation, I need to be there." Jet argued. 

"One more won't hurt, right, buddy?" Aang, naturally, asked Appa's permission. He interpreted the answering low as an affirmative. "Alright! Let's get going, then!" 

"You two be safe, okay?" Jet directed at Longshot and Smellerbee. 

Longshot nodded. Smellerbee glanced between him and the rest of the group. "The rest of you be safe, too. This sounds really dangerous." 

"It'll be a breeze!" Sokka claimed. "We already took out all these Dai Li, we should be able to waltz right into the palace, no problem!" 

He should have remembered how much the universe liked proving him wrong. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops jet lives??? sorry to all of yall that are Big Mad about him but uh


	25. The Guru

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops its almost 10k words   
> i really thought i was gonna have to combine this and lake laogai for length and then.... and then.....

It took a surprising amount of convincing to get the Earth King on their side, especially considering Long Feng had somehow made it to safety, cleaned himself up, and arrived at the palace before them. 

However, everything worked out, in the end, and the King ordered Long Feng imprisoned. The palace guards, while not able to retrieve any condemning evidence from the lakebed labyrinth (now destroyed by the Dai Li themselves), were able to retrieve several documents from Long Feng's office. 

A letter for Toph, summoning her to her mother, who wanted to make amends. 

A note for Aang, requesting his presence at the Eastern Air Temple for Avatar training. 

A report that interested Jet, describing a pair of thieves too reminiscent of Pipsqueak and The Duke to be coincidence. 

Finally, a report that interested both Sokka and Katara, containing mention of their father's fleet.

"We'll have to split up." Sokka realized. "One of us will have to stay here, to talk planning with the Earth King. I guess that's me." 

"No, Sokka, I know how much seeing Dad means to you. You should go. I'll stay here to meet with the generals." Katara smiled softly at him, offering this in lieu of an apology for her doubts. 

Sokka's eyes grew watery. "You're the best sister ever!" He claimed, throwing his arms around her and forcing her to endure a wet smooch to the cheek. 

"Gross! ...But you're right, I am." She smirked, satisfied in her good deed. 

Sokka's shoulders slumped. "But… I can't let you do that. You go see Dad. I'm the plans guy, I need to be here for this. We'll see him soon enough, if the invasion goes as planned."

_ Is that the only reason he wants to stay behind?  _ A traitorous voice, sounding eerily like Jet's, floated into her mind. Jet himself glared like he had a similar thought. 

"Okay, Sokka. If you're sure."

"I am." He gave her a sad smile, squeezing her shoulder. "Show him how strong you've gotten. I bet he'll be shocked his little girl is a warrior, herself." 

\---

Sokka almost called the whole thing off when he realized the implications. "No, no, definitely not! I can't let you two run off on a romantic bison ride! It's my duty as a big brother to thwart this!" 

"Calm down, Sokka, it's not just me and Aang. Jet's coming, too." Katara reminded him. 

"Yeah, and I bet he'll be the first stop, too! You two are gonna smooch it up, don't tell me you won't!"

"Sokka, come on! We're soulmates!" Aang argued.

"Irrelevant!" He shrieked. 

"Let it go, sweetie. Sokka's just trying to play the good big brother." Katara practically sang. 

"Sweetie?!" He gasped, at the same time as Aang's expression melted into something gooey. 

"Tough luck, Sokka. Plan better next time, plan guy." Toph joked. 

"Jet, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm trusting you to chaperone." Sokka pointed at the boy in question, who smirked in response. 

"What, not worried I'll try to snag her for myself? You've got a short memory, Sokka." Jet taunted. 

Based on Katara's blush, everyone else had understood it differently than Sokka himself had, which meant Sokka was alone with the disgusting mental image he'd concocted of Jet forcing that kiss onto a reluctant Zuko. 

He glared. "That's rich, Mr. 'I have amnesia'. Go get brainwashed, loser." 

The snappish comment didn't sting as much as he'd planned, and Jet just laughed as he climbed onto Appa beside the obnoxiously cuddling soulmate pair. 

"Seriously! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" He shouted after them. 

"What, like sneak off for secret rendezvous with their soulmate?" Toph snickered. 

"Yes, like that! ...Wait." She'd gotten him in one. He cursed. "You know what I meant!"

"I'm afraid I don't know, Princess. How far  _ did  _ you go with your Prince Charming?" 

"Toph! You're too young to be making those jokes!" Sokka groaned, grateful she couldn't see his growing blush, but painfully aware she could feel his racing heartbeat. 

"I'm almost thirteen, I'll have you know." She argued, only proving his point. 

"Ugh, when's your meeting with your mom? I need to know how long I'll be stuck with you."

Toph simply cackled in lieu of a response. 

\---

Following his return from Lake Laogai, Zuko was kept constantly busy. As a gesture of gratitude towards Pao, they continued to work shifts at the tea shop, and spent what little free time that afforded them packing their belongings. A carriage would be sent for everything, but Zuko wanted to be absolutely certain none of his trinkets or baubles got damaged during the journey. When they'd moved in, they'd brought so little, but moving out… he had no doubt the new, larger apartment wouldn't feel terribly empty. 

As their moving day drew ever nearer, he began to worry. He hadn't seen Sokka since the other boy had remained behind to distract the Dai Li. Had he been taken by them again? Had their work to rescue the bison gone to waste? 

Even if he  _ had  _ gotten away, soon he and Uncle would be moving, and how would Sokka even find them again? They hadn't had a chance to so much as give him the name of the new shop, or the district they could be found in… 

"Nephew, there is no need to fret so. The two of you always manage to find your way back to one another, and I'm sure this will be no obstacle." Uncle comforted, laying a warm hand on his tense shoulder. 

He hadn't told Uncle what had happened at the lake, or given voice to any of his concerns, but Uncle always seemed to know what was troubling him, regardless. 

"You've been rewrapping that sculpture for several minutes, Nephew. I'm sure the men who help us to move with take plenty of care with your octodolphin." 

Oh. Maybe that's how he knew. He forced himself to set the sculpture aside, laying it with the other fragile items, and tried to take deep, steadying breaths. "I'm sorry, Uncle. This is a very exciting time for you, and I'm just troubling you." 

"Not at all, Nephew. I understand your concern. This is a big change, a much more... permanent type of situation than we've had thus far. I'm certain you have many fears plaguing you right now." Uncle finished folding the last of his garments, tucking them safely away, and moved to sit beside Zuko. "This is an exciting time, yes, but it's also a time of great change. I am glad you are here with me, even if your mind is elsewhere. Perhaps we should take a break? I can put on some tea, and perhaps you can unload your burdens before they grow too heavy."

"That would be nice, Uncle, thank you." 

\---

Jet was, indeed, the first stop. Along the way, Aang chattered about the times Zuko had helped them out, like when he cured Sokka's sickness, or when he broke Aang out of that Fire Nation fortress, or when he kidnapped Aang at the North Pole and almost froze them both to death but with good intentions, or when-

"Okay, okay. I get the picture." Jet groaned. "I'll be sure to leave his head on his neck the next time I see him, don't worry."

Aang breathed a sigh of relief at that. Jet had to have made a big change of heart to be okay with this. He still held out hope of Zuko actually joining them one day, after all, and didn't look forward to fighting Jet again when that happened. 

If that happened. 

Jet leapt from Appa's back before he'd even fully descended, taking off at a run into the woods. If the former Freedom Fighters had been so successful in their guerilla tactics that a special warning had been sent out to the Earth Kingdom troops, he'd have to be extremely stealthy to get the drop on them. 

Aang hoped it was a cheerful reunion, considering what Sokka had mentioned, about the gang disbanding. 

No, he was sure it would be. Jet seemed excited to see them, so they couldn't have left off on too bad of terms. 

Jet… 

Aang hated thinking ill of anyone. All people could be friends if you came at it from the right angle. But Jet… 

Jet had good reason to believe the things he believed. Aang was lucky, really, to see the world as it had been, before generations of war, when peace, however tenuous, still remained. He had had time to experience the culture of the Fire Nation, to befriend its people, long before he knew of the horrors they could be capable of. 

Sozin had already been Fire Lord when he was born, and many people still thought of him fondly, as a strict but just Fire Lord, who wanted his people and their way of life to flourish. Hearing, one hundred years later, only vitriol for his long list of atrocious acts, was jarring, even. 

So Aang had an advantage, here, that Jet didn't. At the age Aang had been when he went on adventures with Kuzon, chasing dragons for his latest thrilling ride, Jet had watched fires consume his home and everyone he loved. 

Aang  _ hated  _ thinking ill of anyone. 

But Jet had planned for the deaths of every single person in that town. He had no fire to throw, but the surging waters would have razed the town exactly as his own had been. The people there were not his enemy, they were as Earth Kingdom as he was, and he would have done the same thing to them as those he called 'monsters' had done to him. 

Jet wanted to disrupt supply lines, so Fire Nation soldiers couldn't hurt even more people in other towns. He had wanted to kill what few Fire Nation guards and citizens had moved in to colonize the town, showing that his people would not be taken over without a fight. He wanted to punish the Earth Kingdom citizens there, for aiding the Fire Nation instead of fighting 'til their last breaths to oust them.

Jet had justified it to himself, convinced himself and all of his Fighters that it was not only just, but necessary. 

Aang  _ hated  _ thinking ill of people. 

But he hoped Jet had received a powerful lesson. 

\---

"Ready to go?" Aang asked as Appa descended, nearing the beach of Chameleon Bay. 

"Oh, I'm so excited, Aang! I've missed everyone so much!" She pulled him into a tight hug, pressing a kiss to his temple. "Thank you, for bringing me here. I know you can't stand to be alone. It means a lot." 

Aang shook his head. "It's not a big deal. Of course I want you to see your Dad, and all the other guys from your tribe! I won't be alone, anyway, don't worry! I'll have that guru guy, whoever he is, and, of course, I'll have Appa! Won't I, buddy?" 

Appa lowed in response, as always. 

"Well, I'm still grateful." Another hug, and another kiss, this one on his cheek. She really was reluctant to let him go. They hadn't been apart in so long, the whole team sticking closer together while Appa was missing. Well, besides Sokka… "I'll see you in a week?" 

Aang nodded exuberantly. "I can't wait! I miss you already, sweetie!"

Katara laughed, amused that he picked up the pet name she'd thrown out to bother Sokka. She slid off Appa's side, landing neatly in the sand, and gave Appa a quick scratch to the arrow. "I'll miss you both! Bye!" 

Following a cheery 'Yip yip!', Appa ascended, taking Aang further away by the second. She sighed, the apprehension she'd been hiding rising to the surface. What would she say when she saw everyone? After having been left behind for so long, having to struggle to keep everyone in the village alive without so many of their most able people? She and Sokka had been so young, but had to take on so much responsibility besides. 

And Sokka… what would she tell Dad about him? She had talked herself out of her doubts while he was still around, but now all she could imagine when he was gone was him playing the devoted boyfriend to the Fire Prince. 

She couldn't waffle for long, though, as a voice cut through her thoughts. "Hey, there's a familiar face! We saw the wind buffalo and came to check it out, and who would wash up here but little Katara!" 

She spun, surprised to hear a familiar voice. Tukkuttok swept her into a crushing hug, then shouted for the rest of the men. 

"Hey, everyone! Katara's here!" 

She was quickly swarmed by friendly faces, men from both their home as well as the neighboring villages, and she was assailed with questions, too many to keep up with. Peppered between the interrogations were endless comments like 'you've really grown up!' and 'look how much taller you've gotten!'. Two years was a long time, and she hadn't even been a teenager yet the last time she saw any of them. 

Overwhelmed, she looked around for one friendly face in particular, conspicuously missing. "Where's Dad?" 

"There was a Fire Navy fleet spotted nearby, so he's planning in the war tent right now." Ikiaq explained, pointing out the tent in question unnecessarily. It was centrally located, larger, and more decorated than any of the others, so it was clear which one it was. 

She left the men behind, dashing over to the war tent swiftly, eager to see the person she was here for. 

Inside, her father leaned over a large map, the heads of the other villages seated, circling it, with Bato hovering behind his shoulder. 

The tall man noticed her first, cracking a wide grin as he met her eyes, and he nudged her dad to get his attention. "Koda, look who it is." 

He did, and she caught his joyful, disbelieving expression for only a moment before she was swept into yet another crushing hug. 

"Hi, Dad." She sniffled, tears already forming. 

"Katara… Oh, how I missed you. Is your brother here, too?" He gave her just enough room to look her in the face, re-familiarizing himself with her features, somewhat matured since he last saw her.

She shook her head. "He's still in Ba Sing Se. He's talking strategy with the Earth King, Dad, you'd be so proud of him." 

"I am, Tara, I am. Come on, we have so much catching up to do. Bato? You can finish this without me, right?" 

Bato chuckled, waving them out. "No problem, Hakoda. This is more important."

With a grateful look to his close friend, Hakoda led Katara out of the war tent and to his own. "Bato told me you kids have been traveling with the Avatar."

She nodded. "We have. Aang is incredible, Dad. He's mastering the elements so quickly, and everywhere we go he helps people. He's devoted to keeping the Air Nomad way of life alive, and I learn something new about them every day. It's been… incredible. Really. I wish I could tell you all about it." 

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you have a crush, Katara." He teased, and she couldn't fight her blush. 

"Dad! If you must know… he's my soulmate, actually." She admitted. 

He looked shocked. "Your soulmate… then did you figure out what your vision meant, the one you had during the guidance ritual?" 

She nodded. "Actually, I didn't even remember all that stuff, not about the ritual, or about Sokka's dream. We found Aang trapped in an iceberg, Dad. He'd been stuck inside for the last hundred years, in the Avatar State. Sokka reminded me about the ritual when we found him, and that's how we figured it out." 

"That's… well, that's something. The Avatar's soulmate, huh?" He threaded his fingers through the loose part of his hair, in a motion that reminded her so much of Sokka's nervous tic. When did her father start reminding her of her brother, instead of the other way around? Had the time apart reduced them to strangers? "You two both have such big destinies. I'm not going to lie to you, Katara, it makes me worried. You, being with the Avatar, and Sokka… Bato told me his soulmate's been chasing you down? Something about capturing the Avatar?" 

Katara felt her mouth open in shock, and quickly snapped it back shut. How did Bato know? "...I guess Sokka told him?" 

Her dad nodded. "At the abbey. Bato said Sokka confronted him, actually, said that he was worried I'd left him behind because I knew he was connected to the Fire Nation boy."

Katara chewed her lip. "...Did you?"

He sighed heavily. "It's… complicated, Katara. The things I told him were true, that I needed someone to look after the tribe while we were gone. Someone to look after you. It's also true that he was too young to go to war then, and that I was trying to protect him. He wasn't trained enough. But… it's also true that some part of me worried. Worried that we'd run into his soulmate on the battlefield, or worse. Worried that Sokka was too sympathetic towards the Fire Nation, and that he wouldn't be able to fight." He laughed wryly. "I guess I couldn't protect him from that happening, after all…" 

"Did you ever think… maybe he'd turn on us? That maybe… maybe, he'd sell us out, or help the Fire Nation in some way… that, maybe, he wouldn't get hurt by them, but that he'd be… taken?" Katara didn't want to undermine Sokka like this, but she needed some kind of reassurance. Dad would know, Dad would have a better perspective, Dad had more experience. 

He didn't give that to her. "What do you mean, Katara? What happened?" 

"Well… it's been… okay. Let me start at the beginning. So, I told you Sokka had to remind me about my spirit vision, right?"

He nodded. 

"Well, he didn't tell us right away about  _ his _ , either, and that would be fine, except, when he did tell us, he said that it had only been the one." 

"Yes, as far as I'm aware, there was just the one dream. What's wrong with that?"

" _ Well,  _ we kept running into Zuko, because he was chasing us and all, and Sokka kept saying oh no, they weren't friends or anything, except then Zuko had Mom's necklace and he  _ knew  _ it was Mom's, and I confronted Sokka about it, and we found out that Sokka had  _ actually  _ been having a whole bunch of spirit dreams, all the time when we were kids, and that they were best friends! He really said that, that they were 'best friends', after all that  _ lying  _ about it!" 

"That is troubling." Hakoda agreed. "I'm sure he had his reasons for keeping quiet about it, though." 

"And if that was it, that'd be one thing, but… he's been doing a lot of things that make me worry, lately. Even… doubt his loyalty." 

"Now, Katara. Don't say things like that about your brother. He didn't get to choose the spirits' path for himself." 

"Just… listen, Dad, please." 

He nodded for her to continue, sitting back and folding his arms, reserving judgement. 

"At the North Pole, we went there to learn waterbending, me and Aang, but it was attacked by the Fire Navy. Zuko was there, too, and… Dad, Sokka let him into the city. He said they came up with a plan together to protect Aang from Zhao, but Zuko kidnapped Aang and dragged him out into a blizzard. Then we go, me, Sokka, and the princess, we go after them to rescue Aang, and Sokka burned me- that's how we found out he can firebend-"

"Sokka can firebend?!" Hakoda rubbed his temples. "I think this story's going a little too fast for me. You mentioned a princess? And Zuko… like Fire Prince Zuko?" 

"Yes, Dad. Sokka can firebend because soulmates can share each others' bending. I can airbend, too. The princess of the Northern Tribe, Princess Yue, she and Sokka were friends. I actually thought they were maybe dating, but then Sokka was all weird over Zuko and now we're all pretty sure they're actually dating each other now. And yes, Fire Prince Zuko, didn't Bato tell you?" 

"Bato just told me Sokka's soulmate was after you… the Fire Prince? Like, the Fire Lord's son?" 

"Yes, Dad."

"Sokka let the Fire Prince into the Northern Water Tribe." 

"Yes, Dad." 

"Oh, boy." 

"Anyway, Sokka burned me while trying to protect Zuko from me, and even though I was able to heal myself, it still hurt. When the Northern Tribe put Sokka under house arrest, I agreed with them."

"You can heal?"

"Yes, Dad, waterbenders can heal. I can fight, too, you know." 

He chuckled. "Oh, I have no doubt about that. The rest of this, though, that's pretty concerning. I agree." 

"That's not all." She hesitated, not sure whether to continue, when she still didn't know the full story, but she'd already gone this far, hadn't she? "We just found out, not too long before coming here, that Sokka met up with Zuko in Ba Sing Se. We've been staying there for a while, and shortly after we first arrived, Sokka got arrested, and he lied to us about the circumstances, so he could hide the fact that Zuko was in the city, despite the fact that Zuko's trying to capture Aang and if the two of them met up, then Zuko would know Aang was in the city, too, and we don't know if Zuko's still around or not, but Sokka's been weirdly distant and disappearing a lot and all his money's gone and we thought he was meeting up with Zuko but then he rescued Appa so I don't know how much of that missing time was him looking for Appa, and how much was unaccounted for. If he'd been looking for Appa, why wouldn't he tell us? He still hasn't said how he found him or anything. What if it was a big coincidence and he actually has been meeting up with Zuko this whole time? Jet accused them of conspiring to take over the city for the Fire Nation together, and that sounds so silly of me to say now, but when he said it, I believed him. Does that make me an awful person? That I think my brother would do that to us?" 

"Katara... I think that you have reasons to be worried. Your history with this boy has been... fraught. I also think that you should talk things out with Sokka before jumping to any conclusions. I'm sure your brother has good reasons for doing the things he's doing, and if he doesn't, he could use someone with a good head on her shoulders talking him through it." He smiled gently at her, squeezing her shoulder. 

She hadn't thought of that before. "You mean, you think... maybe Zuko's manipulating him? Making him  _ think  _ that he's doing the right thing, but really he's just using Sokka for his own ends?" 

Hakoda withdrew his hand. "I think I wouldn't put anything past the Fire Nation royal family, after everything we've seen. The tactics their soldiers use... they're underhanded, they make unnecessary sacrifices, they stop at nothing to achieve their goals. I don't know this Zuko, but we've heard rumors. Rumors that he did something awful enough to warrant banishment at his father's own orders." 

"Sokka did say that's how he got his scar..." Katara murmured, considering her father's words. They made sense, but they agreed with Jet's view of things. Sokka had gotten angry, defensive even, when Jet had brought up these same points. Was Sokka deeply embroiled in a manipulative scheme? Would Zuko even be able to pull something like that off? Or were they all misunderstanding something vital? "...You're right, I need to talk to Sokka, first. Thanks, Dad, and... promise you won't hold anything I said here against him? I know he's been really worried about what you'll think of him." 

"Of course I promise. Until we have both sides of the story, I shouldn't make any assumptions." Despite his words, Hakoda's expression was tense, his jaw set. It was obviously tough for him to hear these things about his son, and from his daughter, especially. "Thank you for telling me all this, Katara." 

"Of course, Dad." She allowed herself to be pulled into a tight hug, burrowing herself into her father's familiar grasp. "This really wasn't how I wanted this reunion to go." She laughed, though tears threatened to fall. 

"No, I imagine not. You know what? How about you show us that waterbending you've been training?" 

\---

Jet found Pipsqueak and The Duke camped out in some sort of elaborate nest, high in the boughs of the forest south of the city. As excited as he was to see old friends, they didn't share the sentiment. 

"What are you doing here, Jet?" Pipsqueak growled from the other end of his makeshift club. "I thought you said you were through." 

"Yeah, the Freedom Fighters are all broken up. We don't want you here!" The Duke chimed in, hiding behind one of Pipsqueak's thick legs. 

Jet held his hands up, blade-free, in a display of pacifism. "I'm not trying to get the gang back together or anything! Can't a guy say 'hi' to some old friends?" 

"If that guy's you, Jet? Not a chance." Pipsqueak declared with finality. 

"Yeah! We don't wanna get roped into your crazy schemes anymore, Jet!" The Duke declared. "All you do is hurt people! We wanna do good things, now!" 

"I've changed, guys! I'm trying to help people, too- Listen. I've been living with Longshot and Smellerbee, in Ba Sing Se. We've been helping out the refugees there, doing whatever odd jobs need doing." Jet claimed, although it had really only been the other two who had done those things. He'd been too busy stalking a certain firebender. "We even ran into the Avatar and his friends again, and we helped them out!" Not that they'd done much, in the end, but the intent was there. "We found out you guys were here, and I just wanted to maybe patch things up between us." 

The Duke looked to Pipsqueak for his answer. Pipsqueak glared for a moment longer, before apparently reaching a conclusion and lowering his weapon. "Okay, Jet. If you really learned your lesson last time, then I guess we'll give you a chance. What do you say to giving us a hand?"

"What did you have in mind?" 

Pipsqueak led him to a small patch of exposed dirt near their camping tree, where they had drawn out a crude map in the soil. "There's a Fire Nation encampment nearby. Seems like the soldiers retreated there after their big drill failed, so now they're stranded and running out of stuff. They've been stealing food and supplies from the nearby villagers. We sneak in, steal back what was taken, and we give it back to the villagers. Easy peasy, right?" 

"Yeah, sounds like it. Just like old times, huh?" Jet wondered how this was 'proving himself'. 

"One catch, Big Guy. No killing anyone." Pipsqueak was emphatic. No jokes. "The Duke doesn't need to see that crap. If you've really changed, you'll go easy on them. What do you say?"

Jet scowled. "And why should we do that? Their whole purpose here is to kill our people. Why should we show them any mercy? So they can live to kill another day?" 

"I seem to remember  _ you  _ trying to kill  _ our people _ , Jet, when you told us to blow up that dam. I seem to remember  _ your _ shitty plan getting  _ lots  _ of  _ our people  _ killed. Too many Freedom Fighters died that day, Jet. They were just kids. Kids  _ you  _ swore to protect when you took them in." Pipsqueak was quietly furious, in that way he had that promised a swift conclusion if you pushed him too far. "Can you  _ promise  _ me you'll keep your cool? If you fuck this up, you could put all of us in danger."

Jet clicked his tongue, missing having some sprout to play with as he did so. "Alright, alright. You can call the shots, Pipsqueak. You say no killing, there'll be no killing." 

"Good. You better keep your word, Jet, because you've only got the one chance, here." 

Jet didn't argue. It was more mercy than he would have given himself, in their shoes. 

\---

Unlocking his chakras was way more work than Aang expected. Three days in, and he was exhausted, half-delirious, and absolutely starving for any kind of real food. Onions and bananas really didn't have all that much to offer, nutrition-wise, especially when broken down into a juice. 

The actual unlocking was grueling work, and it was hard to tell whether he'd actually let things go or not. The guru seemed able to tell, but he sure felt like he still had a little guilt about burning Katara. Seeing the pain Sokka's first attempt at firebending caused, to both siblings, definitely didn't help with feeling comfortable with the dangerous element. 

But Guru Pathik told him he'd unlocked it, and he had to believe him.

Now, they'd ascended to the highest point of the temple, meditating across from one another, as the guru calmly explained the last of the chakras.

"The thought chakra is located in the crown of the head. It deals with pure cosmic energy, and is blocked by earthly attachment. Meditate on what attaches you to this world."

"Earthly attachments?" Aang questioned, peeking one eye open. 

"Yes. Anything tying you to this world. Something you could not bear to lose, that you would go to any lengths to protect." 

Aang took a deep breath, already anxious. Everything before now had been negative feelings, things weighing him down, things that were cathartic to let go of. Freeing himself of guilt or grief or fear was very different from letting go of things he 'could not bear to lose'. Apprehension filled him, but still, he meditated. 

At first, he thought of Appa, of his friends. When Appa had been lost, he'd been broken. But, he realized, that was the easy answer. The answer that would let him protect what was really most important. 

Katara.

He recalled the image of her, bleeding from the temple and unconscious, in the stone courtyard of General Fong's fortress. He recalled the abrupt loss of control, of being flung instantly into the Avatar State, ready to destroy everything in his path. 

He hadn't allowed himself to examine the wreckage there too closely. 

Without hesitation, he had turned on his allies there, uncaring. In that moment, he would have stopped at nothing to avenge her. 

Even now, regret weighing on his spirit, he could not imagine doing anything else. 

The guru spoke again, sensing he'd reached a conclusion. "Now, let all of those attachments go. Let them flow down the river, forgotten."

He knew it was coming, just as it had for every other chakra, but he still flinched. "How can you ask me to let go of her? I love her." 

"If you do not let go of your attachments, you cannot allow the pure cosmic energy to flow in from the universe." Guru Pathik warned. 

"Why would I choose cosmic energy over Katara? She's my soulmate!" Aang argued. "How could it be a bad thing to be attached to my soulmate?" 

Guru Pathik watched him, a strangely sad look in his eyes. "I am not saying it is easy, but it  _ is  _ necessary for you to gain control over the Avatar State." He paused, considering his next words carefully. "Aang, do you remember what the monks taught you about soulmates?" 

"They said that when our spirits are reincarnated, they bond with another spirit, and the two bring pieces of the other along with them." Sokka's book from the spirit library said something similar, as he recalled. He wondered if the researcher who wrote it was an Air Nomad, or was at least familiar with their philosophies. The other nations seemed to have such different ideas about spirits and soulmates… it wasn't only the lost time that was jarring. 

"Exactly. Even the Avatar, when you begin your new life, bring a piece of someone else's spirit along with you. In fact, some believe that the Avatar's soulmate reincarnates alongside them, that it is the same spirit every time, but I cannot say for certain that this is true. What I can tell you, though, is that, even if you should lose her, you will still carry her with you. Learn to let her go. You do not need to hold onto her so jealously." 

Aang grit his teeth. "Even if you say that… even if you say that, that just means that if I lose her, a part of me dies with her! There's nothing worth protecting if I can't protect her!"

"Aang, you know that is not true." The guru insisted, but Aang was already furious. 

"If I have to let go of her to control the Avatar State, I'll just have to find some other way to do what needs to be done. It can't be worth it." 

Despite Guru Pathik's cries, Aang launched himself away from the temple, abandoning his spiritual journey. 

\---

After a week's worth of meetings with the Council of Five, Sokka was exhausted. Despite him coming fully prepared, with maps and historical records and charts directly from the most expansive library in existence, the Council treated him like an idiot at best, and a nuisance at worst. Being the oldest in a group of super-powered children, he'd gotten used to being listened to by powerful people, but it seemed being the Avatar's ally only really worked in his favor when he was standing next to the comparatively much younger and sillier Aang. 

Worse, he knew that Suki was around, and he hadn't so much as had a moment to talk to her! Sure, they were both busy with their own things, but it would still have been nice to get a chance to just say 'hi'! Was that really so much to ask? Even now, the Kyoshi warriors were speaking with the Earth King, and he wasn't allowed to speak with them until they were finished. 

At least his own work was done, now, the Council having finally reached a decision and sent their conclusions to the King for approval. He had the time to relax for a while, until he was allowed to see Suki, and he knew just what he wanted to do with that time. 

"Excuse me!" He called out to a trio of tittering noble ladies. They eyed him with distrust. "Have you ladies heard of a new tea shop around here?" 

Despite the other two trying to shush her, the shortest of the ladies spoke up. "Oh, you mean the Jasmine Dragon?" 

That sure sounded like something Uncle Iroh would name a tea shop. "Yes! Where can I find it?" 

The helpful girl gave him directions, pointing out the path he should take. "It's really very good tea, I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself!" 

"I'm sure I will! Thank you so much, ladies! Enjoy the rest of your day!" 

With a new skip in his step, Sokka hurried down the path. He couldn't believe how close the shop was to the Avatar's residence. Even knowing how small the Upper Ring was, easily crossed in half an hour by carriage, it was close. Only a few minutes' walk, and he arrived. 

Without even stepping through the threshold, he knew he had the right place. Elaborate, golden dragon motifs littered the place, and a familiar voice called out orders within. Lee bustled between several tables quickly, clearly overwhelmed, judging by his anxious expression.

Sokka took a seat at a free table, waiting patiently for the busy server to make his way over. It was strange, how familiar and yet different the scene was. The shop, obviously, was different, with larger, more polished tables, spaced further apart. The patrons were also all new, all gossipping nobles in thick makeup and cumbersome robes. The sight of Lee, taking all of the orders alone, while Uncle Mushi peeked out from the kitchen, handing off a freshly-brewed pot, was exactly the same, though, as were the appreciative comments from satisfied patrons. 

Finally, Lee appeared at Sokka's table. "Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon. What can we brew for you- Sokka?!" 

Sokka grinned, wiggling his fingers in greeting. "Hey." 

Lee dropped the tray he held unceremoniously onto the table, surging forward to grab Sokka, sliding warm hands to grip either side of his face, crashing their lips almost painfully together. 

Seemed like he'd been gone too long. The kiss was almost as desperate as their first, full of fear and relief, Lee pouring his tension into Sokka until they were both frazzled. 

Whisperings spread through the patrons. 

"How disgraceful…"

"His esteemed Uncle must be ashamed…"

"Must we be subjected to this kind of…  _ base behavior  _ in this establishment…?" 

"I will speak to the owner, demand a refund. This kind of…  _ degeneracy _ is unacceptable."

"How disgusting…"

The two pulled apart from one another, embarrassed, nauseous, each barbed comment crawling up their spines like poisonous spider-scorpions. 

"I'm sorry." Lee murmured. "I didn't realize…"

"No, no, it's not your- Let's get out of here." Sokka took him by the wrist, tugging him toward the exit. 

"I can't, I'm in the middle of work-" Lee began to argue, but Sokka was insistent. 

"I think Uncle needs to do some damage control, first. They don't look too happy with you- with us." 

The harsh whispers were accompanied by fierce glares, disapproval evident in the painted faces of the seated nobles. At last, Lee allowed himself to be tugged along, and Sokka led him immediately out the front doors, pulling them both out of the tense atmosphere and around the corner. In the relative privacy between one building and the next, they caught their breath. 

"I can't believe what huge jerks they all were... did the flyers for the grand opening accidentally say 'Welcome, all jerks, to the Jerk-Fest at Jerktopia!' or something?" Sokka grumbled. 

Zuko blinked at him, surprised. 

"...What?" 

"No, nothing, I just… I guess I forget that this is unusual for you." He explained.

"Well, yeah! We weren't even doing anything weird, it was just a kiss! What was their problem?" Sokka was fuming, and Zuko's confusing attitude wasn't helping anything. 

"The nobility tend to be less…  _ permissive  _ than the common folk." Zuko pursed his lips, expression pinched. "I got so used to no one batting an eye at us. At our  _ impropriety."  _

"Impro- what? I thought you said it wasn't, like, illegal, or anything?" 

"Something being  _ illegal  _ and something being frowned upon are two different things." Zuko tugged at his hair. "I knew I was ruining things for Uncle… just by being here, I ruin things. I feel so  _ stupid."  _

"What? No, Zuko, no. You couldn't have known these hoity toity people would react so differently. What are you even  _ talking  _ about?"

"I  _ should  _ have known! I  _ did  _ know! I just let myself pretend like everything was fine!" Zuko argued, voice raising to dangerous levels. People passing in the street glanced into their alley with disapproving looks. "No matter how much I  _ want  _ this, it'll never  _ be  _ fine!"

Sokka opened his mouth to argue, but he was cut off by Uncle Mushi's voice, booming from inside the shop in a manner he'd heard before only once. "Those of you who take issue with my nephew may leave! You are not welcome in this place of business if you cannot hold your tongues! He has done nothing wrong here today, and I will stand by him! Go, now!" The last time the old man had been this irate, he was defending the moon spirit herself from Admiral Zhao, and now, he was defending his beloved nephew. 

Sokka and Zuko watched as a few patrons trickled out of the doors, each one like a blow to the stomach. Each of those people were disgusted enough by a spur-of-the-moment display of affection, from a boy who thought his soulmate may have disappeared from his life forever, that they couldn't bear to so much as sit in a shop and drink tea, knowing the same boy was serving it. 

"Now, if the rest of you would be so kind, please enjoy the rest of your cups." Uncle Mushi concluded after the exodus. The noise level of the shop returned to a low hum, and Sokka breathed a sigh of relief, turning back to Zuko. 

The other boy held a hand to his mouth, silent tears streaming down his face. His breaths were shaky, his shoulders trembling, but he was forcing himself to stand tall. 

With gentle pressure on his shoulders, Sokka drew him in for an embrace, holding him tightly and allowing him to tuck his wet face into his neck. 

"See?" He whispered, stroking gentle circles into Zuko's shoulder blades. "Your uncle doesn't think anything's ruined. He loves you, you know? Hell, he's probably glad to be rid of the dickbags. Now everyone knows where he stands, and that's with you! And you know what… I bet there's other people like us in the city, people looking for a sign that it's okay to be who they are, and they'll know that this little tea shop here will defend and support them. Because it is, you know? Okay. It's okay to be who we are. Got it?" 

Zuko nodded, hair brushing Sokka's jaw, sniffling the last of his tears away. "Yeah. Yeah." He swallowed, straightening, and wiped the tears from his cheek. 

"Now, let's get back in there and help your uncle out. It's still the grand opening, after all! He needs his best waiter on the job!"

Zuko chuckled, a fragile, watery laugh. "I'm his  _ only  _ waiter." 

"You make a good point. He could use some extra help in there. Think he has an extra apron that would fit me?" He wasn't sure when it had happened, but he'd made the decision to stay here for a while. Suki could wait- Zuko needed him now.

"What- you want to work here?" 

"I want to help Uncle out. I should pay him back for everything he's done for us, after all." Sokka grinned, taking Zuko by the hand to lead him back into the shop.

They were floored by how many patrons still lingered. A few still bore disapproving looks, clearly prioritizing delicious tea over their own comfort, but several more even smiled at the two encouragingly as they entered. Uncle Mushi, himself, crossed the room in moments, sweeping both boys into a tight hug. 

"I should never have made you face that, my nephew. It was my failing, for not making myself clear at the very beginning, and allowing so many people with hatred in their hearts to enter this place." 

"No, Uncle, you don't have to apologize… I made a scene, I'm sorry." 

"No, no, nephew, I will not allow you to blame yourself. You were only acting as your heart dictated, and that is never wrong. I am glad to be rid of such hateful people."

Sokka nudged Zuko in the side. "Told you." 

"Now, let us get back to it. This shop will not run itself! Sokka, would you like to stay for a while? It is good to see you on the day of our grand opening." 

"Actually, I had a better idea…"

\---

Sokka was absolutely drowning in Zuko's extra set of robes, the sleeves having to be rolled back and the waistband of the pants folded over, and the sight was cute enough that he could barely resist peppering him with endless kisses until the shop finally shut its doors. 

He ultimately resisted, though, the mutterings of the angry patrons from before echoing in his ears every time he considered it. 

Finally, the sun set fully, and the customers thinned, and Uncle announced the end of the day. He had his two waiters clean the shop as he counted the day's profits cheerily, the lost business making little dent in the flowing coin. 

"Today was a good day, boys! I look forward to tomorrow, as well!" 

"That's great to hear, Uncle. I'm very happy for you." Zuko smiled warmly. Uncle's joy was infectious. 

"I couldn't have done it without you two. We're very lucky Sokka came along when he did! I cannot imagine leaving you to all of those people alone, Nephew!" 

It's true that Sokka's appearance ended up being fortuitous, but Zuko still regretted his initial response. "I'm still sorry, Uncle, for what I did. Earlier. Those people were very upset with you- with us." 

"Do not apologize, Nephew." Uncle reprimanded. "Why don't you head upstairs and get dinner started? I'll finish up here." 

Zuko lit up. He knew what Uncle was getting at. It was something Zuko had been planning before everything turned upside-down, before the new shop and the bison and Sokka's disappearance. "Thank you, Uncle! Sokka… do you have time to stay for dinner today?" 

Sokka's face fell into a frown for a moment, and Zuko's heart almost stopped. Oh, no. Of course he was busy. He'd probably dropped something important to stick around this long, already. 

"Yeah, I think I can do that. What are we having?" 

All the air rushed out of his lungs in relief. Sokka said yes. "That's a surprise."

Sokka seemed apprehensive, but was curious enough to be led along. Their new apartment was the second floor of the shop, spacious and bright, with windows along every wall. The large kitchen opened into a sprawling sitting room, and the place boasted not one, but two bedrooms. No more hushed evenings in the main room while Uncle snored on the other side of the thin walls, now they could retreat to Zuko's own room, where his own bed lay between his own four walls. 

Sokka followed Zuko faithfully to the kitchen, where he retrieved a certain special item he'd purchased weeks ago. He turned to Sokka nervously, showing off the cover. 

"' _ Flavors of the Water Tribes _ '?" Sokka read. 

"After our first date, at that restaurant, I went looking for a recipe book. I don't know how good any of it will be, but I know you had been looking forward to a taste of home. Uncle and I were able to make some Fire Nation food, thanks to you, so I wanted to return the favor." 

"Zuko, that's…" Sokka was staring at the book, face distressingly blank. How was he supposed to interpret this? He probably hated it, thought it was stupid. Zuko sucked so badly at emotional gestures. He'd even freaked Sokka out with that stupid necklace, if the way the other boy couldn't take his eyes off it was any indication. Sokka was always doing things right, and all Zuko could do was screw things up in return. 

"I'm sorry, this was a bad idea… the recipes are probably just as bad as that shop. What was I thinking? I wouldn't even know if the book's authentic or anything, or what ingredients can  _ actually _ be substituted… let's just make something normal. I'm sorry." 

Sokka tugged him down for a fierce kiss, derailing his train of thought and ending his rambling. "This is the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me, Zuko. Stop freaking out, I'm already overwhelmed." 

"Sorry." 

Sokka took the book from him, leaning to press his side into Zuko's body while he flipped through it. Still stunned by the sharp divide between his anxious assumptions and Sokka's actual reaction, he hesitantly slid his arms around the other boy's waist. 

"You're right, a lot of these are just made up, but a few of them are real recipes. I can't tell you if the vegetable substitutes will work out, but the spices are all right, at least." Sokka ran his finger down the ingredients list for one meal in particular, humming appreciatively. "Do you have stuff to make this already?" 

"I, uh, maybe might have bought a bunch of the ingredients for the different things when we moved here. We suddenly had a lot of money, from Uncle's investor, and I didn't know if I'd get to see you again, and I sort of thought buying things would be good luck? That sounds stupid." 

"That's really cute, actually." Sokka smiled, leaning up to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth without leaving the weird sideways cuddle they had going on. "Let's get cooking, then!" 

Zuko fell into an easy rhythm with Sokka, allowing the other boy to take charge. It was always so easy with him, the two of them synchronizing like they were two halves of one whole. He had to wonder if this perfect compatibility was because they were soulmates, or maybe if they were soulmates because of their compatibility. Maybe the two things were unrelated, and they'd find a perfect rhythm together even if they weren't bound, soul to soul, if their soulmates were different people, or if soulmates didn't exist at all. 

He hated to think of that possibility, though, because who would they even be if they weren't soulmates? Zuko knew that, in all likelihood, he would still be under his father's thumb, still believing the lies he'd been told not just about the Fire Nation, but about the whole world, that he'd still be Sokka's enemy, and that felt worse than a knife twisting into his gut. 

So, he just accepted the rhythm they fell into as natural, and the meal came together. 

"Zuko, can you get those veggies onto the plates while I finish up making the sauce? This'll be done in just a sec, so we can eat soon!" 

"It smells great, I can't wait." Zuko complimented, dishing the food onto three plates, anticipating Uncle's return. 

"Oh, a little rhyme! We'll make a poet out of you, yet." Sokka teased. 

Zuko thought back to what he said, having missed the rhyme, and rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha. Just cook, nerd." 

Sokka's mouth dropped open in surprise, but the corners of his lips still betrayed his amusement. "Zuko!" 

Zuko dodged as Sokka whipped a hand towel at him in retaliation.

"It's good to see you boys enjoying yourselves. How goes the cooking? It smells wonderful." Uncle chuckled, closing the door to the apartment behind him. 

"Hi, Uncle! Good timing, we're just finishing up!" Sokka called. 

"Excellent! Shall I prepare some tea to go with our meal?" Uncle shuffled in beside Zuko, reaching up into the tea cabinet. Zuko used his longer arms to reach the larger teapot, stored on the highest shelf. 

"Ooh, yes please!" Sokka crowed. "Do you have any of the peach stuff?" 

A little vindictive thrill went through Zuko's gut at the deep frown marring Uncle's usually jovial face. "Are you certain you want that one? We have some very delicious  _ actual  _ teas here, you know."

"Oh, I bet, but Zuko got me hooked." 

"Did he, now…" Uncle shot a glare at the perpetrator, but still reached for the requested blend. "I suppose it can't be helped, then." 

Sokka spooned the finished sauce over the meat, gave it a stir, and finished filling up the plates as Uncle busied himself brewing the peach 'tea'. Finally, the three sat together at the new, polished wood table, and dug in. 

"How is it?" Zuko asked unnecessarily, seeing the way Sokka enthusiastically dug into the meal. 

"It's really good! Not Water Tribe food, still, but it's tasty!" 

Zuko frowned. "That's too bad. We can try again, sometime?" 

"Zuko, seriously, it's fine. I appreciate what you tried to do, promise. Plus… maybe someday I'll bring you home, let you taste Gran-Gran's cooking firsthand." 

Zuko flushed. "Yeah. I'd really like to get to see it. Your home, I mean. While I'm, you know… under better circumstances." 

"We will. I'll make sure of it." Sokka promised. 

Zuko would look forward to it, even if it seemed impossible right now. Sokka always made the most distant dreams seem possible, after all.

\---

Azula's plan was utterly foolproof, as proven by just how many fools she was surrounded with. It was a simple fact that as an organization grew, the more idiots it would find within its ranks, and the Dai Li were no different. Surely, Long Feng must have been scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel with how easily his agents were duped. 

Like obedient little dogs, they ran to their master with news of the Fire Nation Princess's presence in Ba Sing Se, of her duplicity in impersonating the Kyoshi Warriors, and Long Feng sent them to capture her. 

Game, set, and match. 

Her gaudy, uncomfortable makeup was stripped from her face before she was dragged down to the dungeons. The door to Long Feng's cell was opened, as though the agents were presenting her to a royal audience chamber, and she was forced through. 

A commoner playing at King, wasn't he? How boring. Men of this type were always so very easy to manipulate. Like that Zhao fellow, always too big for his britches. And how quickly  _ he  _ had fallen. 

"What is this about? Your agents show up in the middle of the night and drag me down here?! You cannot treat a Kyoshi Warrior this way!" She shouted, making a big show of fighting off the Dai Li, as though their silly little rock cuffs could do anything against her prodigious firebending talents. 

"But you're  _ not  _ a Kyoshi Warrior, are you? Princess Azula of the Fire Nation." By his pompous tone, he truly thought he had made a fantastic discovery. He truly had no inkling of an idea that he could have been  _ fed  _ information. Laughable. "I also happen to know your  _ brother  _ is in the city. Not very good at keeping a low profile, either of you." 

"What?!" The shock came easily, as it was not feigned. Since when had little Zuzu infiltrated Ba Sing Se?

"Yes, he and your esteemed uncle. Did you think I wouldn't find out? My Dai Li have left them alone this long, but for you to infiltrate the palace like this…" He clicked his tongue. "I simply could not allow the Fire Nation royal family's presence to go ignored any longer."

"What do you want?" She spat, verifying his intel. Clearly, she needed to gather some of her own. How could Zuzu be here, in the same city as the Avatar, without foolishly giving himself away? Something deeper must be going on. 

"I want to make a deal." Long Feng announced, like he thought it was some spectacular twist. Of course he did, she'd planned it this way, after all. "It's time I bring Ba Sing Se back under my control, and you have something I need."

Oh, of that she was well aware. This poor commoner was nothing without a  _ real  _ monarch's power behind him. "Oh?" She prompted anyway, to continue his illusion of power. 

"The Earth King's trust." He explained. The ear of royalty. The grace of the spirits. The Divine Right to rule. 

"And why should I help you?" No need to let him think he'd won her so easily. No, this was a businessman, at his base, and he only understood the equivalence of exchange. 

"Because I can get you the Avatar." Long Feng declared, proudly, like he'd just made a spectacular move. 

"I'm listening." Azula responded, feeding the delusion. 

\---

The next day, Sokka promised himself he'd take the time to see Suki. He had nothing left on his plate, just waiting for the others to return now, and the warriors couldn't be spending  _ all  _ day in consultation with the Earth King. 

He made his way over to the Jasmine Dragon first, though, always weak to the urge to see Zuko. Just as it was yesterday, the shop was abuzz with excitement, packed with patrons. 

"Everyone! I have an announcement!" Uncle Mushi was calling to the dining room. "The shop must close at noon today! We do not mean to rush your experiences, although tea is meant to be enjoyed leisurely, but my nephew and I have an important engagement to keep today!" 

Murmurs spread through the tables, the shop's patrons tossing rumors immediately about what the engagement could be. Sokka made his way into the shop, seeking out Lee's figure among the sea of customers. 

"What's the occasion?" He asked, startling Lee into dropping a cup. With battle-honed reflexes, he caught it, handing it back to the flustered waiter. 

"Uncle got news this morning. We've been summoned to serve tea this afternoon to the Earth King." Lee murmured. "We need to clear the shop first. Do you think you could…" 

Sokka caught his drift. "Where's the spare outfit?" 

"Hanging on the door in my room. Thank you so much, Uncle will appreciate the help." 

"It's no problem! I'm actually headed to the palace later, too, so this works out for me! We can go there together!"

Yeah, everything was working out nicely. Maybe being a little optimistic once in a while wouldn't hurt. 


	26. Crossroads of Destiny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry

Azula was sent to speak before the Dai Li, tasked with organizing them for the coup ahead. Long Feng didn't even realize how little power he held here, how much he was handing over to her. The Dai Li were impeccably trained, if remarkably brainless, and they fell in line under her instruction immediately. 

The coup taken care of, Azula had the time to wrap up her loose ends, now. 

The Dai Li were perfectly willing to assist in the matter of the Fire Prince's capture. How Zuzu had eluded her for so long, she couldn't fathom, but he was suddenly being handed to her on a silver platter. Luck was always on her side after all, the will of the spirits following her royal bloodline. 

She'd set the trap, now she simply awaited the arrival of the prey. 

Mai and Ty Lee obediently waited at the Earth King's side, keeping him occupied until the time was ripe. The Council of Five were the more pressing issue here, old windbags with enough power to throw around that a coup would be meaningless without neutralizing them. 

The Dai Li fell into place. Azula watched the pieces align. 

Father would be _so_ proud. 

\---

Ahead of schedule, Appa touched down on the beach. Aang waved enthusiastically to Katara, to where she stood on the bow of her father's ship, and she breathed a sigh of relief. The training with the guru must have gone well. 

The men were all prepared to ambush the Fire Navy as the ships entered Chameleon Bay, her dad's tangling mines already set in place, and she was looking forward to showing off her combat and healing skills in a real battle… but it would have to wait. 

"Sorry, Dad." She smiled apologetically. 

"It's alright. The Avatar is more important, right now. We'll meet up again soon." Hakoda tugged her into a tight hug, then went to lower one of the small canoes for her to take back to shore. 

"Actually, I've got a better plan." Katara smirked. She pulled water to the edge of the ship, freezing it in place. With another sweep of her hands, she formed a shallow dish, and used the momentum of the motion to propel herself, perched upon it, down the icy ramp. Already in motion, she tugged the water beneath her into a continuous wave, pushing her smoothly to the shore, where she allowed the ice to melt instantly beneath her feet, flowing back to rejoin the lapping waves. With a flourish, she melted the ice beside the ship, the displaced water causing the vessel to bob and sway before righting itself.

Maybe she was showing off a bit, but she really wanted her dad to see how much she'd learned. 

Hakoda certainly seemed impressed, by his wide eyes and startled laughter, and she gave him a little wave before allowing Aang to help her onto Appa's back. 

"So! How'd your training go? You seem like you're in pretty good spirits!" She asked, with breathless laughter. 

"I am, now that I get to see you again." Aang grinned. "I missed you!"

"Aww, sweetie, I missed you, too!" Katara pressed a quick kiss to Aang's cheek, eliciting a wide grin in response. 

They had a rendezvous with Jet to get to still, but for now, they had a moment alone. 

\---

Ty Lee had… _trouble_ sitting still. Always had. Why waste your time idling in boredom when you could be training, or playing, or performing! But, still, she sat, perfectly poised, as Azula had instructed, flanking the Earth King's throne along with Mai. 

They had to wait for the Council of Five to be captured, wait for Azula to return from her appointment with Zuko, wait for the 'proper moment to strike', and the boredom was eating her alive. 

So, needless to say, it was an exciting and welcome respite when she saw Zuko's cute Water Tribe boy wander into the hall, looking a bit lost and anxious. 

"Um, the lady outside said the Kyoshi Warriors would be in here, and I see you two are, but I was kind of hoping to catch Suki. Do you know where she's at?" The boy bumbled, scratching at the back of his head nervously. 

Ty Lee sprang at the chance for something interesting, quite literally, as she launched into a forward handspring, sending herself to gracefully land before him. The heavy skirts threw off her momentum a bit, and she nearly crashed into him face-first, but her years of training didn't fail her and she pulled back at the last moment. That little mistake _did_ earn her a spectacular view of his gorgeous, ocean-blue eyes, though. Zuko was really, really lucky, wasn't he? Ty Lee hoped _her_ soulmate was half as cute as this guy. 

"Who's Suki?" She asked, and immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say. Maybe the unit of warriors they'd fought had been the sum total of all of them, and they were a small enough group that they all knew each other. The boy certainly seemed to think so, dropping into a defensive stance in an instant, reaching for the weapon strapped to his shoulders. "Oops." 

Acting quickly, she jabbed forward, aiming to disable his throwing arm, but he was fast, smoothly transferring stances to dodge her hand without losing his stable footing. She tried again, and again, each time smoothly dodged, and she had to giggle at the rhythm they fell into. "Aw, it's almost like we're dancing!" 

"Ty Lee, keep your head on straight." Mai reprimanded from behind her, slowly rising to her feet and dusting off her borrowed robes. "You know he's off limits." 

"Yeah, yeah." Ty Lee rolled her eyes. "He's Zuko's soulmate, I know." Like she could forget. Acknowledging someone was attractive was not the same as intending to pursue them! 

"If you know, then wrap this up and stop flirting!" Mai snapped. Geez. She could be so crabby when Ty Lee was just trying to keep the mood light! That dark aura was going to suffocate her one day!

Still, Ty Lee obeyed, knowing Azula would be of a similar opinion. This guy was one of the Avatar's friends, and would be useful bait. As though staging a Fire Nation coup of the last Earth Kingdom stronghold wasn't enough bait. 

She cartwheeled around, watching the boy follow her, sliding his leading foot around to continue facing her, then sprang over him, using his shoulder as support. As expected, his stance was rock-solid, and easily took her weight, but too rigid to follow as she landed behind him and disabled both arms simultaneously. 

Two Dai Li agents stepped forward, using their bending to open the earth beneath them, and the boy slid down the chute, disappearing from view. 

"You're no fun, Mai." Ty Lee pouted, squatting down with her head in her hands. The Dai Li sealed the floor once more, disappearing back into the shadows. 

"We're not here for 'fun', Ty Lee." Mai reminded her. 

"That doesn't mean we have to make it boring! It's a big day, with lots of exciting stuff happening! We can make it fun!" She argued. 

Mai rolled her eyes. "The Earth King will be back soon. Get back into position." 

"Yes, ma'am." Ty Lee stuck out her tongue, making sure Mai understood her remark to be as facetious as she'd intended it. 

Gloomy Gus, stick in the mud, pitch-black aura Mai. She was just _jealous._

Peeking over at her best friend's sharp features, beautiful under the striking makeup of the Kyoshi Warriors, Ty Lee wished that was true. 

\---

Although Jet was not at their rendezvous point, Toph, for some reason, was. 

She was using the earth beneath her to propel her quickly back to the city, a mixture of determination and rage in her expression, and Appa pulled up alongside her. 

Aang called out to her, and she lost control of her continuous bending in her shock. 

"Geez, give a girl some warning!" Toph grumbled as Aang pulled her up onto Appa's wide head alongside them. "You know I can't see Appa when he's in the air!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Aang apologized hastily, while Katara checked her over for any obvious injuries. Luckily, despite her speed at the time of her tumble, she only had a few scrapes and bruises. 

"What's going on? Why are you so far from the city?" Katara fussed, healing a roughed up patch on Toph's cheek. 

"Got kidnapped. The whole thing was a set-up. They put me in one of those metal boxes, but I escaped." Toph explained, in that stilted way of hers where all the important details were left out. 

"Escaped? How?" Aang asked curiously. 

"Invented metalbending. No big deal." Toph dropped it on them with all the false nonchalance she could muster, but she was still very obviously bragging proudly. 

"Metalbending? Is that even possible?" Katara hated to give Toph the satisfaction, knowing she would be insufferable about it, but it really was something phenomenal. 

"It is for me. I'm the greatest earthbender in the world, after all." 

Her bragging wasn't difficult to believe. This was way too far-fetched to be a fib. 

"Hey, didn't you guys leave with Hothead? Where is he?" 

Aang frowned, eyes scanning the treeline. "We were supposed to meet up with him here, but he's not around… what do you guys think? Should we wait for him?" 

Katara considered it. "We did agree to meet up… but can we really count on Jet to keep his promise? Sokka's waiting for us back in Ba Sing Se. They're planning the invasion, and we need to be back in time for them to start it."

"How about this?" Toph, using Aang to guide her, slid down to the ground. "I'll search around for him with my earthbending, and if he's nearby, we can grab him." 

"Okay." Aang didn't look happy about it, looking ready to stay as long as needed to ensure they wouldn't be leaving anyone behind, but he let Toph do her thing. 

The longer Toph took, the less faith Katara had in Jet's arrival. Her face screwed up, brows furrowing in concentration, and she cursed when she finally righted herself. 

"Nothing. Just a bunch of animals. Sorry, Twinkletoes, but it looks like he ditched us." 

"Well, that's settled, then. No point wasting our energy on him. Let's get back to the city." Katara gave Toph a hand up, allowing her to keep the grip as they settled into place. 

Aang looked reluctant, staring out into the trees as though he could make Jet magically reappear, magically _not_ be a double-crossing dirtbag, but his magic gaze didn't work, and he had to concede defeat. "Alright. Okay. You're right, we should just get going. Sorry, Jet. Yip yip!" 

Appa took to the skies, drifting back to the towering walls in the distance. 

\---

Zuzu and Uncle arrived just on time, taking their seats in the tea room obediently, carefully setting out their tea set. They both donned hideous brown and green robes, looking all the world like the Earth Kingdom dullards they claimed to be, as though Uncle had absolutely nothing planned. 

For him to betray the Fire Lord, allowing the destruction of hundreds of thousands of troops, and then to just… disappear into the Earth Kingdom, to open up a _tea shop_ , of all things? How could she possibly believe he had _nothing_ planned? 

The Dai Li filed into the room, a dozen agents fully encircling little Zuzu and the Dragon of the West. It seemed a bit overboard, but she rationalized it to herself by recalling stories of Uncle in his prime. Even if he was a fuddy-duddy now, he'd been quite the able soldier in his hey-day, and she'd underestimated him last time. 

That was a failure. Father would be growing impatient. She could not fail again. 

Unconsciously, she held her left wrist. Beneath the green cuff, a pale pink handprint lingered. She'd been making too many mistakes as of late. Father's impatience with Zuko and his impatience with her had blended together. She would not frustrate him again, would prove to him without a shadow of a doubt he had nothing to fear, no reason to believe she would end up like her brother. 

She pulled her hand away, holding her arms primly behind her back, the very picture of collected poise, and strode evenly into the room. "It's tea time." She announced. 

Zuzu rushed to his feet, absolutely dumbfounded to see her here. "Azula!" He cried, intelligently. 

"Have you met the Dai Li?" She taunted, knowing the answer already. "They're earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that's so… _firebender._ I just love it." 

Zuzu looked properly ruffled, his eyes flicking between the agents like a cornered animal, terrified and helpless. 

Uncle, on the other hand, seemed unmoved. He sat, calmly pouring himself a cup of tea, as though the Earth King had shown up as expected. He lifted the cup to his lips, taking a slow sip. "Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname 'The Dragon of the West'?" Uncle asked, smiling over his cup like this was just another family get-together, like he was visiting the palace between battles and was forcing his niece and nephew to suffer his tea and tales. 

"I'm not interested in a lengthy anecdote, Uncle." She huffed. She did not have time to humor this doddering old man. 

"It's more of a demonstration, really." He clarified, taking another slow sip of the tea. 

Zuko's reaction tipped her off to Uncle's plans, as he crouched behind the old man in preparation. The Dai Li were caught off-guard, unprepared to counter the hot flames spilling from the Dragon's mouth. A demonstration, indeed. While the Dai Li reeled, Uncle blasted his way out of the room, Zuko sprinting out ahead of him. The Dai Li finally reacted, sending their earthen fists out to restrain them, but too slow. 

Mindless drones, useless! Their tactics were so slow, so predictable! 

Around the corner, another explosion of crumbling rock sounded, the air charging with the prickling static of lighting. Racing after the fleeing traitors, Azula caught sight of Uncle disappearing out of the hole in the architecture he had created. 

Finally, the Dai Li managed to aim true, pinning Zuzu in place as he readied himself to leap out after Uncle. 

"Really, Zuzu, letting Uncle do all the work? I expected better from you." Azula taunted, admiring her agents' handiwork. "Well, if you aren't going to defend yourself… Dai Li, you know where to send him." She stepped over, smirking at the sight of Zuzu's fearful expression. He'd underestimated her, yet again. This was the way things were meant to be. She lowered her voice, the rest just for her idiot brother's benefit. "I'm sure it'll be a _touching_ reunion, Zuzu. Enjoy it while it lasts." 

\---

Sokka wasn't home. 

While par for the course for the past six weeks, the fact that he was missing on the day they'd planned to return was terrifically conspicuous. 

"Maybe they're not done planning yet? They said it wouldn't take that long, but maybe it was more complicated than they thought!" Aang offered optimistically. 

"Or maybe he's off wherever he usually goes." Katara argued, more practically. 

"He was disappearing to help find Appa, remember? Now that Appa's found, he shouldn't be disappearing anymore!" Aang countered. 

"But he's gone right now, Aang!" Katara snapped, frustrated. Why couldn't Sokka make this easy? 

"Hey, guys? Someone's at the door." Toph cut in, just before a knocking sounded through the wood. "Oh, hey, it's someone we know!" 

She confidently strode forward, swinging the door open to greet their visitor. 

Zuko's uncle stood there, concern etched into the lines of his face. "I need your help. May I come in?" 

Katara's immediate instinct was to slam the door in his face, but, then again, the old man had been nothing but pleasant in every interaction they'd had. Neither Toph nor Aang seemed to be particularly upset by his appearance, so she could give him the benefit of the doubt. 

She gestured to him to enter, and he did so. 

"Princess Azula is here, in Ba Sing Se. She has captured my nephew." The old man explained. 

Katara frowned, confused. "Why did you come to us?" 

"Your friend, Sokka, came to the palace with us. We have not seen him since." 

"He was with you?" Katara glanced to Aang, seeing him chewing his lip nervously. The defense he'd offered Sokka seemed to be growing flimsier by the minute. 

"We can worry about that later, Katara! Sokka could be in danger!" Aang pleaded. 

Katara nodded, clenching her fists. "You're right. I have lots of questions, but they can wait until we know Sokka's safe." 

Satisfied, Aang pumped a fist in the air. "Then we all need to work together! Where is Azula?" 

"She is in the Earth King's palace, and the Dai Li are following her orders. I am afraid she is plotting a coup."

"If the Dai Li are working with her…" Katara worried, "Normally, they'd be taken to Lake Laogai, right?" 

"But that got destroyed when we uncovered the plot." Toph reminded them. "So where did they take them this time?" 

"I brought someone along who may be able to help with that matter." The old man smiled mischievously, leading them back outside. 

On their porch, bound and gagged, sat a Dai Li agent. Toph propped him up with slabs of earth, binding him in place for their interrogation. 

He offered his information quickly and willingly, telling them of the old city ruins beneath the palace. Toph confirmed his sincerity, and off they rushed. 

They split into two pairs to investigate- Aang and Zuko's uncle would dig their way down to the crystal catacombs together while Toph went with Katara to warn the Earth King about the coup. 

Katara nearly protested at the suggestion of the split, wanting the opportunity to interrogate her brother, but she was quickly talked down. 

"Each pair needs an earthbender, Katara. So we can meet up again." Aang pointed out. 

"Alright, fine." She conceded. "Just promise me you'll get some answers out of them."

"I'll do my best!" Aang chirped, and apparently, that was settled. 

\---

They were too late. Azula's plan was already underway, she and her cronies disguised as Kyoshi Warriors (Where did they get the uniforms? Were Suki and the others in danger?). The Council of Five was taken captive, and the Earth King thrown in a cell alongside the chi-blocked Katara and Toph.

They'd been cocky. Realizing it was Mai and Ty Lee facing them, they'd thought they had it handled. The two of them had beaten those girls before, after all, and had only grown more powerful in their bending over time. 

But Azula knew her nonbending friends' limitations, and had cards already stacked for this outcome. She threatened the King directly, and they had no choice but to surrender. 

Katara wondered if they would have succeeded had Sokka been with them, if he would have seen that move coming. 

It didn't matter. Aang was on his way to rescue Sokka now, and they had to work without him. 

Not knowing about Toph's newfound skill, the Dai Li had thrown them into a metal cell. The guard was lax, the agents still busy with the coup, establishing Azula as the new monarch of the city, and it was only a matter of time before the three would manage to escape. 

"See any guards around?" Toph asked, as she worked her muscles loose, the chi finally flowing freely again. 

Katara glanced around what she could see of the hallway. "All clear!" 

Toph crumpled the heavy metal door like so much parchment, flinging it out of the way with a thunderous crash. "Then let's move!" 

"Wait, what about Bosco!" The Earth King worried. 

"The bear?! Really?!" Toph groaned. 

"We won't leave him behind, but we need to move fast. If Azula's on the move, Aang could be in danger!" 

She only hoped this stupid detour wouldn't cost them dearly. 

\---

Long Feng knelt easily. It was almost boring. She sat upon the throne for only a moment, reveling in her success, watching the former head of the Dai Li get dragged away by his own men. 

Alas, she had to be moving. The cogs still turned, pieces not yet all in place. Zuzu was still waiting for her.

She ordered a couple of agents to take her down to the crystal catacombs for the family reunion. 

The earth opened beneath their feet, yawning into a gentle slope, and, as they slid down the inclined tunnel towards their destination, she was reminded of her hijinks at Omashu. The Avatar had fled then, slipping out of her clutches like a handful of eel-squid. 

She had been unprepared for him, then. He would not escape so easily this time. 

When the tunnel finally gave way to the makeshift cell to reveal only her brother and uncle waiting for them there, Zuzu's soulmate nowhere in sight, she could surmise what had happened. 

The Dai Li sent crystals jutting upwards, restraining the Dragon of the West so that even his fiery breath couldn't free him. 

"I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle, but Zuko… Prince Zuko. You're a lot of things, but you're not a traitor, are you?" She goaded. 

Of course he was. He'd been here for spirits know how long, in the same city as the Avatar, and had yet to make a move. The only way Uncle could be down here is if he were accompanied by an earthbender, and all signs pointed to that being the Avatar. They'd allowed that little airbending nuisance to leave with Zuzu's soulmate. It was clear where his loyalties were being swayed, and it annoyed her to no end. 

But still. Zuzu had his little keywords. She could press those buttons and have him back, no question about it. It would be simple. 

"Release him immediately!" Zuko ordered, as though he held any amount of power here. 

"It's not too late for you, Zuko. You can still redeem yourself." She lied. A failure like Zuko would never make up his losses. The amount of disappointment he'd garnered would require absolute perfection to claw back from, and all he could manage was a stumbling effort in the right direction. 

"The kind of redemption she offers is not for you!" Uncle interrupted. 

"Why don't you let _him_ decide, Uncle?" She snapped. Meddling old man. "I need you, Zuko." She pleaded, and it wasn't a lie.

She needed to convince Zuko of this. She _needed_ to have him back home, back at the palace with her, standing between her and her father. Where she fell short of perfection, Zuko always masked her flaws in comparison. She _needed_ him there, like she needed air to breathe. Without him, Father's ire became stifling. 

"I've plotted every moment of this day, this glorious day in Fire Nation history, and the only way we win is together." With Zuko's return, Father would not see with impatience how long she took, would look over her failures at Omashu, in the desert, with the drill, would only see Zuko, the wayward son, finally scraping a victory from the pit of defeats he'd dug himself into. The only way her victory would be lauded was with Zuko by her side. "At the end of this day, you will have your honor back. You will have Father's love. You will have everything you want." 

With each of those words, Zuko practically flinched. Too easy. Always too terribly easy. 

"Zuko, I am begging you. Look into your heart and see what it is you _truly_ want." Uncle tried once more, but it was too late. By the way her brother hung his head, shoulders sagging in defeat, she knew she had already won. 

"You are free to choose." She claimed, signalling to the Dai Li to leave her. Satisfied, she strode past Zuko, past their treacherous uncle, and through the cavern tunnel the Avatar must have formed in his escape. 

The Avatar could not have gotten far, not while bringing along Zuko's soulmate. The Water Tribe boy would be hanging back, desperate to see if his love was safe. 

Her gut twisted with disgust. 

A traitorous little voice, sounding far too much like her uncle's, argued that the twisting was in jealousy. 

\---

Azula's cronies gave the bear up pretty quickly. Without their ringleader there as a trump card, they were vastly outmatched. It would be laughable if it wasn't so frustrating. 

"We need to get back to the others. Aang could be in trouble. Is there another route into the catacombs, some way we can get Appa down there?" Katara asked, firing the bison whistle she'd borrowed off of Aang. Best copper piece they'd ever spent. 

Toph pointed off in a seemingly random direction. "There's an underground waterfall over that way. I'll still have to open up a tunnel into that cave, but it won't be as deep."

"We'll have to try it." Appa's fear of going underground, especially exacerbated by his experiences with the Cave of Two Lovers and then Lake Laogai, would be troublesome, but they needed the bison's help to get everyone out safely. Herself, Toph, Sokka and Aang, the Earth King and his bear… would Zuko and his uncle be joining them, as well? Even Appa would struggle with that sort of load. 

As the bison flew nearer, announcing his presence with a low, she abandoned the train of thought. It would be tough, but they didn't need to make it far. Just far enough to flee Azula, maybe make it back to the Southern Water Tribe fleet. He could do it. 

He'd have to. 

\---

As expected, the Avatar and his friend were hanging back, waiting to see what would happen between the Prince and the Princess before moving on. 

Stupid, really.

At the sound of her boots, plinking measured steps against the damp crystals embedded in the rough stone of the cavern floor, they both tensed, readying battle stances. 

Too little, too late. 

She sent a wave of flame, burning hot and blue, towards the pair, watching with amusement as the Water Tribe boy flung himself to the ground, cowering. The Avatar leapt, weightless, to land some distance away, clearly attempting to draw her fire. Unfortunately for him, she was well aware of the tribesmans... _abilities,_ and wouldn't fall so easily for their ploy. Keeping both in her periphery at all times, she sent a quick burst hurtling towards the tribesman, forcing him to defend himself while she sent a proper attack towards the Avatar. 

Unsurprisingly, the latter was swept away with a burst of air, sending the flames licking across the cave floor, where they sputtered and died. 

Prepared for the tribesman to be back on his feet by now, she whirled to face him, ready to defend against his stumbling mockery of firebending, but was instead met with the boy sprinting directly at her, club raised, and shouting. A distraction?! 

Azula used a sharply-aimed burst of flame to propel herself away from his loudly-broadcasted strike, returning her attention to the Avatar. Sure enough, the little airbender had recovered, manipulating the earth around them to send sharp crystals spearing through the spot where she was standing. Again, she leapt away, forced on the defensive. 

She caught her breath for a moment, sizing them up. Their strategies together were... not what she expected. The Avatar had all that power at his fingertips, yet was only using it to put distance between them? And the Water Tribe boy... why wasn't he using his bending? It had to be some trick, and she would see its purpose soon enough. 

In that moment, Zuko finally stepped into the room. 

He had discarded his outer robes, leaving him in something far easier to move around in, and leaving something she hadn't noticed before exposed. The Avatar gasped in shock at the same moment as her own eyes widened. He had noticed it too. 

Zuko, stupid little Zuzu, wore a bastardisation of a Water Tribe betrothal necklace on display, clasped proudly about his neck like a collar. Had she misjudged him? Was she too late to snag him back from that savage's clutches? Had he so quickly debased himself, wallowing here among the dirt people, eagerly throwing away true civilization to become this boy's pet?!

That's when Zuko, brainless, easily-manipulated Zuko, reached up, unclasping the necklace, and flung it at his soulmate's feet. The Water Tribe boy leapt forward, sliding across the crystal-studded ground, knocking his jaw harshly against the hard stone, desperately grasping at the abandoned jewelry. His reflexes were just barely sufficient, saving the necklace from crashing against the stone.

"I can't take that with me, when I go." Zuko's voice was soft, pitiful, like that necklace had been binding together his heart and without it he was shattered.

The Water Tribe boy looked like he was about to respond, perhaps to beg Zuko to reconsider, but was cut off by a weak bout of flame from Zuko's fist. It was hardly a child's flame, sputtering out barely a foot from his outstretched fist, not even large enough to start a campfire blazing, but the shock was enough to startle the other boy, sending him scrambling backwards. 

"What are you doing?" He cried, clutching the discarded jewelry to his chest as though it would kill him to let it go. 

Zuko drew himself upright, speaking with a confidence he'd lacked just moments prior. "You cannot ask me to choose between love and duty. Should I abandon my country, my people, to run away together with you? Tell me, where would be the honor in that?" 

From the corner of her eye, she spotted the Avatar hopping his way around, footsteps silenced by his native bending, moving himself to flank her and her brother. So, he assumed she would be distracted by Zuzu's little display. Unlikely. 

She whirled, dragging one boot along the cave floor, sending a wall of searing hot flames roaring towards her quarry. Appearing through the flames, hurtling towards her undaunted, the Avatar sped, encased in crude armor formed of the caverns' crystals. Following through her spin, she secured the foot behind her, propelling forward to meet the crystal juggernaut. At the last moment, she swung around, using the same power which had flung her across the room hurtling directly into his body, shattering the crystals and sending the Avatar flying backwards. 

"Shit, Aang!" The Water Tribe boy shouted fearfully, nearly distracted from his one-on-one with Zuko, but her brother had drawn his twin blades, whirling them feverishly. 

"Focus on me!" Zuko ordered, drawing his soulmate's attention once more. 

The tribesman had drawn a crude-looking blade, looking far too unwieldy for battle, but Azula wasn't particularly familiar with weapons, anyhow. 

Why was Zuko fighting him in melee? Although flames occasionally skittered weakly across his blades, he seemed to be using his fire as a mere tool to aid his swordplay, rather than the other way around. Had his bending grown even weaker since they last fought? That would be troublesome. Father would have trouble believing he'd played a part in this victory if he couldn't even _bend_ properly. 

The Avatar had recovered, and was bouncing away into the ceiling, clinging to a stalactite briefly before cutting clean through it with his bending. She returned her full focus to him, sending a ferocious wave of fire to divide the projectile before it could land, leaving her untouched but for a bit of debris. 

Sloppy. Father would not be pleased with a filthy princess. 

She brushed the dust from her armor, readying another attack. Three blasts in quick succession, aimed perfectly, taking into account his projected path through the air as he floated back to the earth. With barely a moment to spare, the Avatar drew on the water flowing through the room, creating a makeshift shield that fizzled the projectiles, steam billowing forth. 

Perhaps she could use that to her advantage? She pushed a wave of fire at him, goading him into using the water to shield again, a satisfied smirk sliding across her face as the steam began to fill the space thickly, obscuring his vision. 

Her brother distracting the Water Tribe boy and the Avatar trapped in a cloud of vapor, she finally had a moment to prepare. Carefully building the movements, Azula manipulated her chi as she had been instructed. Frustratingly, she was still slow at it, unlike Father and Uncle, who could send off a bolt in an instant, but the lightning still came forth when she called for it. 

The steam parted. She aimed, guiding the lightning towards the disturbance. The bolt surged forth. 

Her aim went wide, the airbender emerging further left than she had been expecting. Of course, he manipulated the steam with his bending as a feint. She whirled on him, striking out, her blue flames licking along the cave floor rapidly. 

The impact to her back was unexpected, and she nearly tumbled to the ground before righting herself. Sloppy. 

The Water Tribe girl had emerged from the steam as well, flanking her. Where had she even come from? 

No matter. The Avatar may have had more friends waiting in the wings, but Azula had backup of her own. Raising her hand, she gave the signal to the Dai Li to join the fray. 

Immediately, they surrounded, emerging like ants from a hill, bending the earth in uniform motions. 

Although severely outmatched in speed and power, the Dai Li had the advantage of numbers, and soon overwhelmed the Avatar's friends. 

The little monk appeared horrified. He glanced between his friends and their assailants, quickly assessing the situation. Realizing he had nowhere to escape to, he dropped to a crouch, encasing himself in a shield of crystals. 

A pitiful attempt. The Dai Li would reach him in an instant. 

The smug smile slid from her face like water off a turtle-duck's shell. The crystals were glowing. The Avatar wasn't cornering himself, he was entering the Avatar State. 

She had to act quickly. 

Again, she had a moment to prepare a bolt, the Dai Li keeping their adversaries off of her, and she readied for the moment the Avatar emerged. 

The crystals burst, the boy's body floating high, towards the cavern ceiling, tattoos aglow with spiritual power. The wind began to whip around him, kicking up debris. 

She allowed the bolt to surge forth, aim true, crackling energy jolting through her body and across to her target, connecting solidly. 

The glow lighting his body flickered, and dimmed. 

\---

Katara screamed.

Aang's body was falling rapidly, plummeting to the hard stone below. 

Aang's _body._

The earth erupted around her. Crystals spiked from the cave floor, spearing through the Dai Li, several failing to dodge in time and letting out guttural noises of pain. Though her stomach turned at the sound, it was grotesquely satisfying. She cleared a path to Aang, walls of rock physically pushing the agents away from her before propelling herself forward with a gust of wind. She buoyed his body with a breeze, his fall slowing until he landed in her arms with a weak groan. 

Still alive, but barely. Holding him close, she could feel his pulse, barely-there, fluttering. Her teeth ground, fury rising, overtaking her sense. 

She returned her attention to the princess, amber eyes wide with fear. Good. She _should_ be afraid. 

Azula barely dodged in time, spears of crystal racing across the floor, chasing her as she fled. She wouldn't get away. Katara wouldn't allow it. 

One-handed, still holding Aang's weakening body close, she slammed a wall of water over Azula's fleeing form, freezing it in place. The ice shattered, the shards melting midair with the heat of the blue fire. A retaliatory wave of flame raced back towards them, and Katara threw up a wall of stone, the blast dissipating against it. 

She forced crystals to sprout through the wall before sending the whole thing hurtling towards Azula, praying it would hit. She wanted this damn bitch torn apart. 

The crystal-studded wall stuttered to a halt, collapsing to the ground, no longer answering her call. 

Katara attempted to pull another, smaller rock forth, and again, her summons went unheeded. 

She desperately swung her arm, mimicking the air slice Aang usually performed with his glider, but, again, nothing. 

She didn't want to believe it. She refused. 

She couldn't feel Aang's pulse any longer. 

"Katara!" 

That was Sokka's voice. Sokka was here, he was still okay. He'd know what to do. 

"Sokka! It's Aang, he's- I can't feel his pulse, Sokka!" Her voice cracked. Tears were already blurring her vision. 

"Shit!" Sokka hissed in response. "We need to get out of here! How did you get in?"

She tried to force her breathing to even. They needed to get to safety. Whatever happened with Aang, they couldn't do anything about it until they were safe. "We, um, we came over on Appa! Above- where the waterfall's coming out, from there!"

"Okay! Let's go!" Sokka's voice was much closer now. A hand pressed to her shoulder. She couldn't tear her eyes away from Aang's face, peaceful and still, like he was resting. She could almost believe it, too. 

"Go, now! I will hold them off while you escape!" Another familiar voice called. Zuko's uncle? Why was he here? Hadn't he left? 

She tore her eyes away, looking up. Azula and Zuko stood beside each other, Dai Li standing at the ready behind them, their uncle facing off against them, flames leaping to his call. 

Sokka gripped her free arm, tugging her to her feet. Above them, Appa lowed, worried. 

"We need to get up there. Can you bend?" Sokka was asking. 

She nodded. Her chi may have gone quiet, that familiar singing surge that usually rose during battle suddenly gone, but she could still feel the water as it flowed around them. She tugged on it, drawing it around and below them, pushing them through the hole shaped by the waterfall, to where Appa waited, impatient. 

Safety. They had to get to safety. 

"We need to get to Dad. His fleet should still be nearby. We should go there."

"Okay, Katara. That's where we'll go. Come on, let's get you up onto Appa. That's it, here we go." Sokka chattered, talking her through the motions. It was so much easier to just do what she was told. Without Aang, she felt so lost, like even walking was a struggle. Sokka helped her lay him out… lay out his _body_ onto Appa's back, their allies surrounding them. 

"Do you still have the water from the spirit oasis?" Sokka asked, situating himself at Appa's head, preparing to steer them away.

The spirit water! Of course! It had saved Sokka once, maybe it could save Aang! 

She pulled out the tiny vial, drawing the water from within. Although most of the damage would be internal, from the lightning arcing through him, she focussed on what she could see, on the entry wound in his back. The water coated the jagged burn, tugging at his chi, realigning his energy. While the water healed his physical injuries, the spiritual energy within it healed his spirit. There was so little of it, the tiny amount of water barely enough to coat the entry wound, and for an awful moment, she despaired. 

Then Aang's tattoos flashed, blinding in their unexpected brilliance, before dimming once more. Aang groaned, in pain, but alive. 

Her heart leapt. Hope was not lost. 

\---

Zuko took his sweet time packing for the journey back home. It seemed he'd collected a number of useless trinkets while living in squalor here, a simulacrum of the wealth he'd been missing for the past three years. 

Azula begrudgingly allowed it, rifling idly through his things as she waited. Between the Dai Li and the soldiers still hanging nearby after the drill failed, she had plenty of lackeys establishing order on her behalf. 

"What's this?" She asked, finding a dirty stack of papers, held together with some sort of gross sinew cord. 

Zuko gasped, eyes widening. "Leave that alone!" 

"Oh? It's something important? I never would have guessed." Ignoring his anger, she undid the binding, flipping through the stack. The papers were all blank, yellowing and crumbling. What could be important about- ah. She reached the center of the stack, revealing scrawled notes and a dried flower. "You write poetry now, Zuzu? I can't say I'm surprised, but isn't it a bit much, even for you?"

"I _said,_ leave that _alone!_ " He snapped, grabbing for the page. She held it aloft, dancing out of his reach. 

Her eyes glanced through the poems. Oh, so _that_ was her misconception. It wasn't Zuzu's poetry, no- it was his _soulmate's._ "Oh, how cute. He wrote you poems." She lifted the dried flower, one petal already crumbling, between her long, manicured nails, inspecting it. "And a panda lily? That's downright romantic!" 

She dropped the flower into her palm, crushing it in her grip. Zuko choked, like it had been his very heart she'd destroyed. Clearly, it was just as fragile as the stupid memento had been. 

"Let it go, Zuzu. If you let people see you like this back home, let _Father_ see you like this, there'll be trouble. You don't want to be banished again the minute you get back, do you?" She taunted, clicking her tongue. 

His shoulders drooped. "...No." He murmured. 

"Keep your dirty little secret _quiet_ , Zuzu, or we'll _both_ face consequences. Understood?"

He stayed silent, but nodded. 

"Great. Glad we're on the same page." Her sneer softened, and she allowed a gentle expression to take its place. "You know, Mai missed you. I'm sure the two of you have a lot of catching up to do." 

He swallowed, not meeting her gaze. "...Right." He breathed. 

Ungrateful little… he should be thanking her! She set all this up so that Mai would be happy and Zuko wouldn't make a fool of himself, and he had the _nerve_ to look _upset!_

She took a deep breath, forcing her temper to recede. "Finish packing your things. I'm eager to be free from this place." She snapped. "And chin up, Zuzu. You have a hero's welcome waiting for you back home."

**END OF BOOK 2**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i do need to go on a short hiatus between this book and the next but because i hate to leave yall hanging im gonna get out book 3 chapter 1 before i do so  
> so!  
> see yall soonish with that update!


	27. The Awakening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god its 13k words......... oops.  
> edit: thanks for 2000 kudos!!

For just a fleeting moment, Hakoda was overjoyed to see his children again. The wind buffalo- the sky bison, Katara had corrected, it was a sky bison- had returned in the dead of the night, bearing a whole troop of kids, as well as the Earth King and his bear. 

As the bison drew nearer, though, his spirits fell. The kids' expressions were downtrodden. 

He rushed forward to meet them. 

"What happened?" He asked, helping them to dismount. Katara's distraught expression drew his eyes to the Avatar's still form. "Oh, no…"

"Dad, he's- he's alive, I was able to save him with the spirit water, but please… I need to get him to your medical tent. He's still badly hurt." 

Her voice was raw, choked, her eyes red. 

He nodded. "Okay, Tara, let me take him." 

Reluctantly, she allowed Hakoda to draw the limp boy into his arms. He was shockingly light, even with as lithe as his build looked. 

"I've got him. I'm taking him to the tent. You can breathe, Katara, you've done a great job."

"No, Dad, I need to come with you-"

"Rest, Katara. Our healer can see to him." 

"No, Dad!" Katara was shouting now. "I can't! Not yet! I need to- Dad, I can heal with my waterbending. I can do more for Aang than your healer. Just bring me some fresh water, a lot of it. I need to be sure he's okay." 

Her fervence startled him. He caved. "Okay. I trust you to make good decisions. Follow me."

\---

Following the raid on the Fire Nation camp, Jet had joined Pipsqueak and The Duke in helping out the village nearby. The people were grateful for the return of the supplies, sure, but were even more grateful for the help rebuilding. 

Houses were scorched, storefronts demolished, supply warehouses wrecked. In just the week that they spent here, they saw the town go from cowering, expecting another raid at any moment, to thriving again. The streets filled with people, shops were packed, and there was a makeshift festival thrown so everyone could enjoy their recovered goods. 

It felt nice. It was good to see peace restored in little ways. Distantly, Jet realized this town was just like the one near the old hideout, a town full of Earth Kingdom citizens just going about their business, struck low by the fear that their invaders may do even more damage next time. Where before, he had seen people caving to the Fire Nation's demands as cowardly, he saw things differently now. 

When you had people to protect, it was worth the sacrifice. Throwing yourself at an impossible enemy, down to the last man, may have been nobler, but just keeping those you love safe, allowing yourself to be bullied into submission for the chance that your children may see a better tomorrow… Maybe that was its own kind of nobility. 

While he may not agree with their choices, knowing he would have spat in the face of any soldier muscling their way into his home, he had to respect their decisions. 

And now? He and his Freedom Fighters could help to defend them. They had less to lose, and more skill in a fight. 

If those soldiers turned up again, they wouldn't find this village such easy prey. 

As the days drew on, hurtling quickly towards the time Aang had asked to rendezvous, The Duke and Pipsqueak began to relax around him again, falling into their old, easy rhythm of banter. He found he'd missed this, the part where he got to hang out with his friends, no worrying about what kind of leader he should be, or what decisions to make, or what regrets ate at his gut like an insidious poison. 

Just… hanging out. 

It was nice. 

The part of him that frothed with rage, that always bubbled like a volcano, hot and consuming, that part of him began to quiet. It began to settle. He found himself enjoying the little moments more and more. 

It felt like healing. 

And then Pipsqueak invited him out to spy on that Fire Nation camp again. He needed to leave soon, to meet up with Aang, and they needed to be sure the soldiers weren't planning on any retaliation before he left. 

What they discovered was, arguably, even worse. 

A messenger hawk swooped into the camp, alighting on a post intended for just that purpose, preening its feathers as it waited for the commanding officer to check its message pouch.

The letter inside bore the royal seal. The instructions within sent the soldiers back to Ba Sing Se, where a Fire Nation coup would soon be in progress, and the extra support was necessary to establish the new order. 

Jet saw red. He drew his hooked blades, preparing to leap from the boughs above to finish what he should have before.

Again, it was Pipsqueak who talked him out of it. 

"You dive down there right now, what happens? Just you against the entire camp? You're gonna fucking die, Jet, and for what?" 

"Less of them to invade the fucking city, Pipsqueak! They're headed there right now!" 

"Think about it, Jet. What else can you do, right now, that would be more help?"

"Killing all of these assholes would be a help!" He hissed in return, but then his thoughts caught up to his words. "...I need to warn somebody. Katara should be with her tribe nearby. If I tell them what's happening, maybe they can help head it off." 

Pipsqueak nodded. "Then that's what we'll do. Lead the way." 

They were just barely too late to catch Katara as she left, the bison flying overhead just as the sandy beach of the bay came into view. Jet cursed under his breath. 

Still, the Water Tribe fleet was there, and jam-packed with able warriors with plenty big bones to pick with the Fire Nation, themselves. 

It wasn't until he was explaining the situation to the Chief that it clicked.

"The message had the royal seal… that fucker!" Jet cursed. 

"Language, son." The Chief scolded. 

He grit his teeth. "It has to be Prince Zuko. Sokka's fuc- effing boyfriend!"

"Sokka's what-now? Katara didn't mention…" The Chief scratched his head, looking troubled. "Well, I can worry about my son's love life later. You think Zuko's behind this?" 

"Who else? A royal seal on a message about a coup?" Jet was baffled that the man even had a question about it. 

"Katara did mention he was in the city… Alright. I'll have my men prepare for travel." The Chief placed a warm hand on his shoulder. Despite the fact that the man was barely a few centimeters taller than him, he felt so small suddenly. He'd borne the burden of leadership for so long, surrounding himself with other orphans who needed his support… was this what having a father figure around was like? Like all his worries would be taken care of, like he could rely on the Chief to figure things out for him? Is this what he'd been missing? "Thank you for the warning, son." 

He cleared his throat, not wanting to sound weak in the face of sudden fatherly pride. He wasn't equipped to handle this. "Yeah… yeah, of course." 

His voice still cracked. 

\---

A space was cleared in the usually-cramped medical tent for the washing tub, filled to the brim with river water and hauled in by a team of no less than five. Katara had the injured monk laid out on a cot, where she crouched over him, pulling water from the basin to surround his chest. 

Hakoda had seen the glow earlier, when she had helped heal minor injuries among the men, but it didn't get less breathtaking to see. He'd heard of waterbending being used in this way, but the old healers had gone first during the raids, and he'd never seen it firsthand. 

She was focussed and precise, guiding the water with delicate motions, expression intense. All signs of distress and exhaustion had disappeared as she worked, throwing aside all other concerns in favor of focussing on the here and now. 

It was, in a word, impressive. He couldn't be more proud. 

He muttered a word to Bato as he left the medical tent, bidding him to make sure Katara didn't push herself too hard, and went to check on the other kids. 

After all, he still hadn't had a chance to see Sokka. 

\---

As soon as Hakoda had swooped in to drag Katara and Aang off to the medical tent, Jet had cornered Sokka against Appa's broad side, using the bison's sheer mass to cage the smaller boy in. 

Sokka held his hands up in a plea for peace, shrinking in front of Jet's ire, but the Freedom Fighter didn't slow down, gripping his tunic in a tight fist and hauling him to growl directly into his face. 

"I know what the  _ fuck  _ you did, you little shit!" Jet shouted, shaking Sokka by the tunic, the garment beginning to pull free from the belt tying it in place with the vigorous motion. "I fucking  _ knew  _ you were plotting with your fucking firebender to overthrow the city, I fucking  _ called  _ it! No one listened to me, and now- oh, now I have fucking  _ proof!"  _

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Sokka tried, hoping the irate boy would be easier to convince than he had been last time, back in the forest where they'd met. 

"Oh, I know! I saw the message he sent to the soldiers in the forest! Calling them back to Ba Sing Se to start his coup! And who the hell was it that let all of that happen, huh?" 

"It wasn't Zuko! Listen!" Sokka pleaded, sensing Jet's violent tendencies reaching a peak. 

Around them, several Water Tribe warriors stood at the ready, hands on their weapons, waiting for things to escalate. Toph hadn't gone far, either, but she'd have trouble seeing through the sandy beach, so he couldn't necessarily rely on her to be a solid defense. 

Jet forced his attention back with a sharp shake, leaving Sokka's neck aching. "What other fucking Fire Nation royal is around to screw things over, then?! Well?!"

"Azula!" Sokka snapped. "Princess Azula? His crazy fucking sister?"

The shaking stopped, the tight grip relaxed. The fury on Jet's face leaked into confusion. "So, what, the entire Fire Nation royal family is there right now?" 

"Except the Fire Lord himself, yeah." Sokka pried the loosened fingers from his tunic, tugging the fabric back into place. It would need to be retied, but he didn't want to take his attention off of the volatile boy long enough to do that just yet. "It's a long story. We'll fill you in on the details later. We need to get out of here as soon as we- Dad?"

He'd barely had a chance to recognize the man before he was being swept up into a tight hug. He tensed, startled by the physical affection, but returned the embrace just as tightly. 

"What's going on here, boys? I heard shouting." Hakoda asked, looking between Jet and Sokka. 

Sokka was surprised to see Jet look appropriately sheepish at the fatherly disapproval. "It was a misunderstanding, Chief Hakoda, sir." 

Sokka looked up at his father, unsettled to find he didn't have to crane his neck as much anymore. It had been a long couple of years. "I don't know what you all heard, but the coup wasn't Zuko's doing, Dad. His sister was in the city, it was all her." 

"And where is this Zuko now?" Hakoda asked, sharp eyes searching his face, probing his expression. 

"He's still in the city. Like I said, it's a long story." Sokka dodged. "Are the ships ready to go? Azula could be sending people to chase us any minute."

Hakoda seemed like he wanted to comment, but let it go. "Yes. We were just about to head to the city to help with the coup, so we're ready to go. Looks like we're headed the opposite way, now." 

"You were? How did you even know about it?" Considering Sokka himself had heard about it firsthand, he had to wonder how news had reached the ships so quickly. 

"Your friend here came to warn us, actually." Hakoda explained, nodding to Jet. 

"I was a little late, it turns out…" Jet muttered, grimacing.

"It's alright, son." Hakoda released one of Sokka's shoulders to put a hand on Jet's instead. "We appreciate what you tried to do. Thanks to your warning, we're ready to set sail already, so that saves us quite a bit of time." Hakoda returned his attention to his son, squeezing his shoulder gently. "Go to your sister. We need to get the medical tent taken down as quickly as we can. Aang can be moved to the medical bay on my ship." 

Sokka nodded, quickly following orders. His dad had always had such a commanding tone, easily eliciting obedience from his men. It was nice to just follow orders, for a while, instead of making all the decisions himself. It was something he hadn't even realized he'd missed. He'd always recalled it chafing him, having to obey his father all the time, not being treated like an equal. 

He wanted to knock his younger self upside the head for his stubbornness, now. 

\---

It was a struggle to pull Katara away from Aang, even for so short a time. She was hiding it well, but Sokka could tell she was exhausted, unsteady on her feet, grip weak. 

"You can heal him more later. He's stable for now. You need to rest, too, you know. He'll never get healed if his healer collapses." 

Despite his rationalizing, Katara was still stubborn. "I'm going to stay with him. I won't keep trying to heal him, but I can't just abandon him."

"That's fine, just let us get him on the ship. Okay?"

"...Okay." She begrudgingly conceded. 

Bato, hovering nearby, was the one to take Aang into his arms carefully, Katara watching like an eagle-hawk the whole time, and to board the ship with him. The team that had brought over the wash basin took down the tent, stashing the supplies and fabric under the watchful eye of the healer, a man Sokka recognized from a neighboring tribe but couldn't name. 

Supplies and people disappeared into the ships quickly, half the work already done before they'd arrived, and they cast off across Chameleon bay. 

\---

Sokka got the idea when the fleet passed near a Fire Navy ship heading the opposite way, likely bringing troops to help establish order. 

He convinced his dad to send the majority of the ships into cover, hugging close to the shore where Fire Navy vessels couldn't follow, and to creep the flagship near a little patrol ship. 

"We don't want one of the bigger ones?" Hakoda asked, peering over at the little vessel dubiously. 

"This kind is faster and needs fewer people to run it. Besides, I know my way around this kind." It was overstating it a bit, but he did at least know where the helm and kitchen were. 

"How do you- you know what? Nevermind. You kids got into way too much trouble while I was gone, I'm not sure I want to hear it." 

"That's wise, Father, that's very wise." Sokka half-joked. Hakoda finding out he'd nearly died on a fishing boat, only surviving because his soulmate  _ happened  _ to be nearby  _ chasing them through the storm,  _ subsequently spending three days battling the worst sickness of his life… wasn't really high on his to-do list. 

Hakoda rounded up the men, sneaking under the patrol ship with their canoes, clearing the Fire Navy soldiers with surgical precision. In under an hour, the vessel was theirs.

"We can use this ship to sail right past any other Fire Navy ships! They won't have any idea it's actually an invasion force!" Sokka chirped victoriously. 

"Good work, son. I'm proud of you." 

"Thanks, Dad. Now, pick out a uniform! Gotta look the part, while we're at it!" 

\---

Sokka finally convinced Katara to take a short nap after Aang got settled into his new bedroom (the medical bay wasn't exactly the same as the one on Zuko's ship had been, but it was near enough to make him queasy). 

She practically collapsed into the mattress, snoring in seconds. 

Sokka closed the door softly, whispering a 'good night' before taking off.

Too soon after, she appeared on deck again, rubbing sleep from her eyes. 

"Katara! What are you doing up? You need more rest!" Sokka admonished. "And you shouldn't be on deck without a disguise!"

"I'm fine, Sokka. I don't want to wear that stupid armor." She grumbled. 

Sokka crossed his arms stubbornly, the metal of his uniform bracers scraping against the breastplate. He'd chosen a firebender's uniform, almost identical to the one Zuko used to wear. "There's plenty of options. At least wear a cloak, okay? We don't want to pass another ship and they see someone running around in Water Tribe blue on board."

"Okay. Okay. I'll grab something, just… I came up here because I wanted to talk to you." She looked serious, a note of worry in her eyes as she scanned his features. Why was everyone looking at him like that? 

"Let's get inside. We can talk in my room." 

Thankfully, she agreed easily, allowing herself to be steered inside. He'd chosen the room approximately where Zuko's had been, even though that technically made them the captain's chambers. They were familiar, in a way, even if the decor was different. He missed him already. 

"What did you want to talk about?" 

"About… what happened in Ba Sing Se. In the catacombs. Sokka, I'm sorry I didn't talk to you earlier, I was so scared about Aang, you know, but I shouldn't have made you put on a brave face for all of us like that. You have to be hurting, too." 

Sokka furrowed his brow. "What? Why?" 

"Sokka… I saw what happened, what Zuko did. I wasn't there for all of it, but…"

"Oh!" It suddenly clicked. He'd explained the situation to Aang already, but he hadn't had a chance to tell anyone else. "Katara, you don't have to worry about me."

She slid her hands over his, gripping them tightly. "Sokka, I know this is what you do. I know you tuck away your worry and your grief and you bottle it up so you can be the rock for everyone else, but you don't have to do that right now. I get it if you can't trust me with it, after the way that I've been about Zuko lately, but you really need to talk to  _ someone,  _ okay?" She was so sincere, he felt awful that he hadn't explained earlier, that he'd let her worry for so long already. 

"No, Katara, you're not getting it… Zuko didn't do anything to hurt me." He explained. 

She blinked. It was her turn to wear the confused expression. "But I  _ saw  _ him standing next to Azula back there. Against his uncle, against  _ us. _ He  _ betrayed  _ you,  _ again! _ ...Didn't he?"

Sokka shook his head. "No, he didn't. Whatever he did, I asked him to do. I've got a plan."

"You've got a- Sokka, what the hell did you do?!" Katara shot to her feet, shoulders heaving. 

"Just let me explain, it'll all make sense." He tried, but she was only growing more furious by the minute. 

"You had a  _ plan?!  _ Aang got hurt because  _ you had a plan?!"  _

"No, Katara, that's not-"

"I don't care! I don't care what your plan was! It's because of  _ your plan _ that Aang died, Sokka! Whatever it was that you  _ wanted  _ to happen, Aang  _ died  _ back there, do you get that?!" 

"I didn't mean for that to happen, but-"

"You didn't  _ mean  _ for it to happen? For the Avatar to get hurt, for him to be out of commission for spirits know how long? You didn't  _ mean  _ for it to happen? It's not a  _ good thing  _ for your fucking  _ boyfriend  _ and his crazy fucking  _ sister?!" _

"No, it's not like that-"

"Aang was hurt, and Ba Sing Se fell, and all of those people are now under the Fire Nation's control, and you're telling me it was one of your koala-hare-brained schemes?!" 

"Katara-!" 

"No!" Lightning-quick, she popped the cork on her water skin, snapping the water out to freeze around him, pinning him to the wall. "Don't you 'Katara' me! You better have the fucking explanation of a lifetime here!"

"I'm  _ trying,  _ but-" 

He was cut off by the door opening, their dad bursting through, followed closely by Jet. 

"What's going on in here, I heard shouting- Katara? Care to explain why you froze your brother to the wall?" Hakoda asked, folding his arms and looking all the world like he was just breaking up your average sibling quarrel. 

"Sokka just kindly  _ informed me  _ that Zuko helped Azula  _ kill Aang  _ because of some  _ plan  _ he came up with! So I'd appreciate it if you stayed out of it and let me  _ kick his ass! _ " Katara snapped. 

"And I was  _ trying  _ to explain what the plan  _ actually was  _ and that Aang getting hurt was never part of it!" Sokka ground out. 

"Wait." Jet interrupted. "You told me he didn't have anything to do with this. That it was all his sister's plot." 

"Then he lied to  _ both  _ of us." Katara huffed. Sokka nearly expected to see smoke puff out, with as angry as she looked, but fire was the one thing she  _ hadn't  _ bent… yet. 

"Kids, please. Let's let Sokka tell us his side of the story." Hakoda chided. 

Katara worked her jaw for a moment, until Hakoda cleared his throat pointedly. She sighed, melting the ice back into water and drawing it back into the pouch. "Fine. Go ahead."

"Gee, thanks. You're so generous." Sokka grumbled. Still surrounded by three angry expressions (though Hakoda wasn't  _ mad,  _ just disappointed), he opted to stare at the floor as he explained. 

\---

Sokka had been trapped in the crystal-studded cavern for what felt like an eternity (but had probably been less than an hour) by the time the ceiling opened again, Zuko tumbling down to meet him. 

He surged forward, trying to break his fall, and they'd ended up in a heap on the cave floor. 

"Come here often?" Sokka joked, grinning up at Zuko like they weren't trapped in a creepy catacomb by a secret organization they thought they'd dismantled. 

Zuko blinked at him with surprise. "So that's what she meant…" He murmured. "Azula. She said something about a 'touching reunion' when she threw me down here." 

Sokka rolled his eyes, sitting up gently, helping Zuko right himself as he went. "She's got some sense of humor, huh…" 

"I don't know that she, uh, actually intended for us to… you know." Zuko waved vaguely. 

"No, but she did intend to stick us in here together. I gotta wonder  _ why,  _ though. She's gotta have some kind of plan, right?" 

Zuko shrugged. "She's always way ahead of wherever I am. I stopped trying to follow her plans a long time ago, I can never keep up."

"Well, good thing you've got the best brain in the Southern Water Tribe with you, then, isn't it?" Sokka grinned cheekily. 

"Didn't your village have, like, twenty people in it?" Zuko snarked, and the grin fell. 

"...I'm just gonna ignore that." He pouted. It wasn't really the time to bring up  _ just who's fault  _ that happened to be. "The point is, Azula's up there hatching her plans, and we've got nothing but time on our hands for now. If we can figure out what she's thinking, and come up with a plan of our own to counter it, then we just might scrape out of this okay." 

Zuko sighed, looking up at the blank stone where he'd been dropped in. "What makes you so sure?" He sounded like he'd nearly resigned himself to their fate already. That was no good. 

"We always do, don't we?" Sokka reminded him. "Now, like I was saying, she had to have thrown us down here together for a reason. What  _ I  _ think's going on is that she doesn't know that we know that we're here- that we're bumping into each other for the first time since that abandoned village. Isn't that what it sounds like? 'Touching reunion'?"

Zuko nodded. "That makes sense. How does that help us?"

"I don't know yet." Sokka admitted. "I'm still following the train. Okay, so she expects us to be surprised by each other. Last time we saw each other, I helped you escape from her, then you helped us face her… why would she want us to see each other now?" Reaching a dead end, he circled around for another approach. "She's planning a coup, and we both  _ know  _ she's planning a coup… maybe she expects me to assume you're working with her? Does that make sense?"

"If you were seeing me for the first time in Ba Sing Se coincidentally at the same time as you're seeing Azula… yeah, I think so."

"So maybe she expects us to fight." Sokka guessed. "'Touching reunion'... if she expected it to be tense, that would make more sense."

"Yeah, it sounded like Azula-brand sarcasm."

"The kind meant to be mean instead of funny, you mean." Sokka crossed his arms. "Why would she want us to fight? If it was just to soften you up, that makes no sense. She's got the Dai Li behind her. Besides, you can kick my ass, easy." 

Zuko shook his head. "Not right now. I can't bend." 

"Come on, we're in an underground catacomb, and the Dai Li clearly know who you are, now." Sokka reminded him. 

"No, I mean- I don't mean 'can't' as in 'I need to keep a low profile', I mean 'can't' as in 'I can't feel my inner flame half the time'." 

Now, that was new. "What do you mean? You've been bending just fine around me!"

"Exactly. Around you." Zuko raised his eyebrow pointedly.

It clicked. "Oh! The spiritual resonance thing!"

"Yeah. We could only bend together." 

"Aww, that's kind of sweet." Sokka genuinely felt a little mushy at that, though he kept his tone teasing. "Well, Azula doesn't know that, I assume, so the point stands. It can't be to get us to just hurt each other. What I'm betting is she did this to get me to hurt you, like, emotionally." 

Zuko rolled his eyes. "That tracks. Azula's all about emotional damage."

"But why would she want that…?" Sokka felt like the train was finally reaching the station. 

"Because it's Azula. She always wants me emotionally damaged." Zuko grumbled, unhelpfully. 

"No, she always does things with purpose. She only hurts and lies and tricks to achieve a goal. She wants to manipulate you, and she wants to use me to do it…" The gears whirred and whirred and quite suddenly clicked into place. "She wants to make sure your connections to the outside are severed. She wants us to fight so you don't feel like your loyalty's split. She thinks you betrayed the Fire Nation for me at the North Pole." 

Zuko shook his head. "I'm not following." 

"Zuko… she's gonna try to get you to go with her, to help her with the coup. She wants you to help her get to Aang." 

\---

"So, I told him that, if I was right, if she offered him a way back home, he should take it." Sokka finished. 

The three expressions hadn't changed much as they listened. Jet still looked moments from murder, his dad was still reserving judgement, and Katara was the exact middle point between the two. 

"Why, though?" She demanded. "Why would you tell him to do exactly what she wanted him to do?" 

"Two things- no, wait, three things." He put up fingers, counting as he went. "One, make her think she's won. If Azula thinks she's outsmarted Zuko, she won't figure out that anything else is going on. She thinks she's still two steps ahead, we can get a step or two ahead of  _ her  _ while she's feeling smug. Two, if he goes back now, we make absolutely sure there's someone on our side ready to take the throne when we successfully kill the current Fire Lord. He's the Crown Prince, technically, but he can't assume the throne if he's banished. This way, he goes back, honor restored, and his place in the line of succession returned to him." 

"You said three things. What's the third?" Hakoda pressed. 

"This is the big one. The one she'll never ever see coming, and neither will anyone else, because it won't be happening on this plane of existence!" He was giddy with excitement, revealing the brilliance of his plan. 

"What does that even mean?" Jet snapped. At least he was listening, even if it was super impatiently. 

"It  _ means…  _ Zuko and I can meet up in each others' dreams! We're, like, the perfect spies! No one else can do it, and no one can see us do it! He goes to the war meetings, tells me what the Fire Nation's up to, I give him updates on our own strategies, it's a win-win!" Sokka threw his hands up, cheering for his own brilliance. 

His audience didn't share his enthusiasm. 

"That part only works if you  _ trust _ that the fucking  _ Fire Prince  _ isn't going to take that information and double-cross you. Which he's pretty much guaranteed to do, considering, you know, he's the  _ Fire Prince. _ " Jet snarked. 

"He has a point, son." Ew, gross, his dad agreeing with Jet?! "How can you trust that this Zuko will keep his word?"

Sokka groaned. "We already went over this! We've known each other since we were kids! He  _ can't  _ be pulling a long con on me! I would know!" 

"Maybe you would, maybe you wouldn't." Jet argued. 

"I could tell  _ you  _ were a creep right away, you know." He bit back. 

"Boys, boys." Hakoda sighed. "Sokka, I want to trust you, really, I do, but if you won't even consider the possibility…" 

Sokka's heart sank into his stomach. "Dad, you really don't trust me…?" 

"How is he supposed to, Sokka?" Katara asked. "You kept this whole plan secret this whole time, and now you don't even have solid proof that he didn't actually betray us back there. Just your own stupid  _ instincts _ ." 

"My instincts are always right! You know how when we ignore my instincts, we get into trouble?" He reminded her. 

"And when we  _ do _ listen to your instincts, we still get into trouble." She objected. "Sokka… if you're wrong, it could go really,  _ really  _ bad. It already did! Aang got hurt, and I have no idea when he'll even be conscious again! You need to be rational about this, and I think you're not thinking straight."

"Katara…" Sokka knew, he  _ knew  _ there was no way he could be wrong about this. Zuko was a terrible liar, but he had done his best to play his part anyway. He'd even tossed the necklace back to Sokka, making sure it would be kept safe while he was back at the palace. How could their perception of events be just  _ so incredibly different  _ than his own? "You guys are the ones not being rational right now. Just because he's Fire Nation, you want to assume the worst of him. Is it so hard to believe that he's just a  _ person _ ? That he can be honest or a good person or whatever? He  _ has  _ to have secretly evil motivations?" 

"Yes." Jet grumbled. 

Hakoda placed a hand on Jet's shoulder, and the boy backed off. "That's not what we're saying at all, Sokka. But this is a war, and people's lives are at stake. I want to assume the best of people too, believe me, I do, but it's just not practical in this kind of situation." 

"What more do you need him to do to prove himself? He spent over a month with us in Ba Sing Se,  _ knowing  _ Aang was right there, that he could use me to get to him, and he never did! He helped me free Appa so we'd be able to move around again! What part of that sounds like the kind of guy who would just suddenly double-cross us?" 

"The fact that you felt the need to keep all of that  _ secret,  _ for one. The fact that you  _ lied  _ to us about it to  _ keep _ it a secret. It seems to me like maybe  _ you  _ don't trust him as much as you say you do." Katara crossed her arms, raising one eyebrow. "Or,  _ maybe,  _ you don't trust  _ me  _ as much as you want me to trust  _ you. _ "

"How am I supposed to?! Every time you find out that I've been so much as  _ civil  _ with him, you act like this! When was I supposed to drop it into conversation, huh? 'Oh, lovely weather we're having, and by the way, Zuko's here in town!'? How well would that go over? I barely managed to stop you from chasing down Jet and trying to kill  _ him _ !" 

"Wait, why would she want to kill Jet-" Hakoda tried to interject, but was cut off by Katara's angry screech. 

"How are you supposed to?  _ How are you supposed to?!  _ Are you really telling me it makes more sense to you to distrust  _ me  _ than  _ Zuko?!"  _

"Kids, kids! Please!" Hakoda raised his hands, stepping forward to put himself between his children. "You're both making the same argument right now. We'll talk in circles for hours about this if I give you the chance. Let's just cool down, talk this out, and reach some sort of compromise. Okay?" 

A chorus of 'okay's rang out in the room. Satisfied, Hakoda lowered his hands. "Good. Now, what's this about Jet?" 

\---

Idly, Zuko ran his fingers along the patch of skin where the necklace was meant to be. After wearing it almost constantly for over a month, he felt absolutely naked without it. 

"You won't have any skin left if you keep rubbing at your neck like that." Mai's bored voice called from behind him, sounding all the world like she couldn't care less one way or the other if he did rub his neck raw.

"...I know." He jerked his hand away, holding the balcony railing with both hands tightly to keep them from drifting back to his neck. 

Mai sidled up next to him, leaning into his side. He stiffened involuntarily. 

She retreated, just barely, and rolled her eyes. "Geez, no need to act like I'm poisonous or something. That could really hurt a girl, you know." 

"...Sorry." He mumbled, forcing himself to relax. "So, you know now, I guess." 

"About what?" 

He shot a weak glare at her. "Don't play dumb. About my… about my soulmate." 

She sighed, adjusting her stance to lean more of her weight on the railing than on him. "Yeah. I do. Azula told us about him. Don't worry, she swore us to secrecy." 

He couldn't imagine why. "That's not really why I brought it up." 

"Then why?" Impatience had snuck into her tone already.

"I wanted to know if… if you're really okay with this. With  _ us. _ " 

"Azula's orders, you know. What Azula wants, Azula gets. If she wants us to act like a happy couple, we'll do it." 

"Yeah, but… are you  _ okay  _ with it?" He pressed. 

Mai huffed, pushing back from the railing to wander off a couple of steps, putting space between them. "Since when did you care? You never asked me that the first time Azula asked us to fake date."

That was true enough. He'd been so wrapped up with Azula's and his father's plots that he hadn't even considered her feelings at the time. He'd been scared and angry and he regretted so much of the past years. "Well… circumstances are different now." 

"They really aren't. It's still you and Azula using my  _ feelings  _ for you to get what you want." Mai argued. "Look, I got over you when you were banished and we thought you were never coming back. I'll get over you again. Good night, Zuko." 

_ Again…?  _

Too quickly for him to ask, she disappeared, storming back into the expansive room. The slam of the door told him she'd gone into the hall, presumably back to the rooms she'd claimed for herself here in the Earth King's palace. 

He slumped. As he feared, Mai wasn't too pleased about the whole situation. For Azula's plan to work, they had to at least  _ seem  _ like they got along, like they both held genuine romantic interest in the other. 

Come to think of it, what  _ did  _ Azula get out of it this time? When they were kids, she'd suggested (more like ordered) the setup because Mai's parents had been getting antsy about her spending so much time with the violent princess, (correctly) assuming Mai's burgeoning interest in knives was her influence. They couldn't, however, argue with her dating a member of the royal family, not with the promise of future benefits such an arrangement would net them. So, Azula kept her playmate, Mai got to play at dating the boy she liked, and Zuko escaped the suspicion that was beginning to arise regarding his lack of a budding interest in girls. It wasn't ideal, certainly, considering Zuko never  _ had  _ managed to muster up any sort of attraction to Mai, but it had satisfied their needs at the time. 

But now? Azula didn't need an excuse for a playmate, Mai couldn't even  _ pretend  _ Zuko might actually be hers, and Zuko... 

Zuko did still need that layer of protection, especially considering how he'd spent the last month and a half, how relaxed he'd gotten with the concept of being open and comfortable with his relationship. Knowing him, he'd screw up and mention something he shouldn't, or do something suspicious, and it'd be over for him. He was the only one who benefitted. 

Was Azula... was Azula  _ actually  _ trying to protect him? That made no sense, right?

Already, he missed Sokka. The other boy would be able to reason out Azula's train of thought, just like he had back at the catacombs. 

_ If she offers you a way home, you take it.  _

He'd said that like it was so easy. Like it hadn't torn Zuko's heart out to turn his back on them, even as Aang fell. Like it hadn't gutted him to give up the necklace. Like he wasn't shredded to pieces even now, waiting for a ship worthy of Azula's standards to transport them back to the Fire Palace. 

He looked to the moon, and silently asked her to watch over them both. 

\---

Sokka made a mental tally board of wins and losses. 

Dad hearing about what Jet had tried to do, what Sokka had had to do to prevent it, and lost that blind faith he'd had in the boy? Dad not listening as much to Jet? That went into the 'wins' column. 

Dad hearing about everything Zuko had done before the Fire Nation siege at the North Pole? The repeated betrayals, the willingness to go to any lengths to achieve his goals? That went squarely into the 'losses' column, seeing the deepening frown on his face. 

Dad agreeing to listen to his proposal for modifying the invasion plan regardless? A solid 'win', definitely. 

Dad compromising with Jet and Katara, agreeing to keep Sokka out of the war room during planning meetings, making sure he was vague on the details about what exactly would actually happen on the ground until the last minute? A huge, massive, gigantic 'loss'. 

He definitely ended up on the shitty end of this compromise. 

"Why can't I actually help  _ plan  _ my plan?" Sokka couldn't quite keep the whine from his voice, much as he tried to sound mature and responsible. "How am I supposed to give good ideas if I don't even know what we're doing?" 

"Calm down, Sokka. We're not shutting you out entirely. You understand why we have to do it this way." 

As calm and encouraging as his dad's voice was, as it always was, Sokka remained unconvinced. It must have been evident in his expression, because Hakoda squeezed his shoulders firmly, giving him a warm smile. 

"Go spend some time with your sister. She needs the company, before she worries herself to death."

Sokka snorted, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, because I'm definitely at the top on the list of people she wants to see right now." Hakoda winced. Sokka adjusted his tone, putting away the biting sarcasm. "Thanks, Dad, I think I will. Let me know what I can help with."  _ What I'm allowed to help with…  _ He amended mentally. 

Hakoda disappeared into the room they'd designated for planning, joining Bato and the other tribal leaders inside. Sokka sighed, sinking down against the wall. How did things always somehow turn out even  _ worse  _ than he expected? Being a pessimist was supposed to mean you were always either right or pleasantly surprised, but this? 

_ Well,  _ he reasoned to himself.  _ It could still be worse. They haven't locked me up 'for my own good' this time, at least… _

The voices were muffled through the door, filling the hallway with the low buzz of conversation. He strained to pick out words, but the resonation through the metal hatch distorted the sound too thoroughly to do so.

He soon grew frustrated, being so close to the action and being locked out, so he began to pace.  _ Taking a walk to cool off,  _ he reasoned to himself. That was the kind of thing real, responsible, logical adults did. Sokka was responsible. He could be taken seriously. He wasn't a dumb kid blinded by rose-tinted glasses regarding his hot boyfriend who he was  _ well aware  _ was the prince of the colonizing nation, thank you very much. 

He just needed to act the part, so that Dad would see it, too. 

He stopped short, wandering- no, walking, he was on a walk- walking down a narrow maintenance passage and passing under an exposed air vent. The sound of murmuring voices echoed through it, and he paused to listen. 

"‐need to bolster our forces to replace the soldiers promised by the Earth King." 

"Where are we going to get that kind of manpower? If that many soldiers were free at any one point in time, this invasion could have been launched a long time ago!" 

"Yes, but this time, we have the special advantage of the eclipse, you remember." 

That was his dad's voice! He was hearing the war room from here! 

"So we need fewer men, so what! We still have barely anyone right now! And we certainly can't go in on a suicide mission with every man from the Southern Tribe. We'd be wiping our whole tribe off the map!" 

"We'll just need to think outside of the box. Get creative. I know we've discussed my son before-"

"Yeah, we heard what the little traitor did. Not surprised, not surprised one bit." 

Sokka winced. So that's how they talked about him behind closed doors… maybe he didn't want to be in that meeting after all. 

"You had best treat my boy with respect, Amaruq, or I'll kick you out of this room. You know I will." 

"Yeah, yeah. You know I'm right, though." 

"Sokka may be young and gullible, but he's no traitor. We can trust what he has to say." Hearing no arguments, Hakoda's voice continued. "Now, as I was saying, Sokka's very creative, and we should run this by him to get his take. At the very least, he'll provide us with a fresh perspective on things. Any arguments?"

A murmur went up around the group, but it seemed Hakoda's tone had silenced the most outspoken of the lot, and no one voiced an opinion either way. 

"Good. Next, let's talk about the ships we left behind-"

"Hey, you!" 

Sokka flinched. That last voice came from behind him, instead of through the vent. Slowly, he turned to see who had spoken, squinting through one narrow eye. 

Pipsqueak stood in the main hallway, arms crossed, frowning deeply. "Sneaking around, huh? Let me guess, you can hear everything they're planning through that vent there?" 

Sokka turned fully, hands on his hips, trying to school his expression into something non-incriminating. "Pff, no? Of course not! That'd be silly, what a silly way to design a ship! I was just… checking… the lights?" 

"Uh-huh." Pipsqueak was not convinced. "Jet warned us you might try something like this. No sitting in on the meetings means no  _ listening  _ to the meetings, either. Come on, let's go."

"Wait, no! They're not even talking about invasion stuff anymore! Besides…" He looked over Pipsqueak's bulky frame, estimating the breadth of this passage. "You can't even get to me! Hah!"

"I can't." Pipsqueak admitted. A sinister grin slid across his face. "But he can." 

Sokka gulped. 

The Duke barrelled into the passage out of nowhere, tackling Sokka by the legs. They were both brought down among the pipes and shafts, narrowly missing bits of protruding metal in their descent. "Shit!"

"Hey! Watch the language! There's a kid here." Pipsqueak taunted. 

The Duke grinned up at him. "Gotcha!" 

"Yeah, you know what? You did. Got me fair and square. I'm coming out now. Please don't throw me into the pipes again." 

"No promises!" The Duke chirped.

\---

Sokka had spoken too soon. For every subsequent meeting, he was locked in his room on board, someone posted outside to keep an eye on him, like he was gonna try the same trick again. It had been a fluke the first time! Sure, he would probably have poked around for another place to listen in, and made sure it was a more secluded spot this time, but still! He deserved to hear them discuss  _ his fucking ideas! _

Sure, Hakoda swung by after every meeting to run things by him. After the first meeting, Sokka gave him a list of the Avatar's allies, suggesting those that may prove useful for the coming battle. He'd been asked for ideas for using water- and earthbending in battle, for navigating the Fire Nation, and even for better passing off as genuine Fire Navy crew. So, he shouldn't  _ really  _ feel left out. It was more than most of the kids got, after all, and he  _ was  _ still young.

But the time spent trapped in his chambers dug up awful memories of the North Pole, and left him with plenty of time to replay the comments he'd overheard over and over in his head. 

Dad thought he was gullible. He thought he was stupid and naïve and that he'd been duped. At least he believed in Sokka's good intentions, but maybe that was worse. Being distrusted himself, he could argue against, could prove himself somehow. Having doubts cast on his judgement, though, meant every single argument he could throw at them, no matter how airtight and convincing, could be slapped away with the same assumption. They wouldn't budge. 

He'd taken to napping during these meetings, stuck in one place anyway, just to maybe get a chance to see Zuko, even for a little while, but it seemed the spirits weren't so kind. 

That, or the other boy wasn't sleeping well. That was actually a really strong possibility. He would be staying near Azula, after all. That girl could make anyone look over their shoulder. Hell, she was the biggest reason their own lookouts were nervous, even if it seemed pretty certain she wasn't following, after two weeks with no sign of her. 

Two weeks already… time seemed to move so fast, for as much as it seemed to drag on. The days all blurred together, the monotony dragging them out, but with no special events to mark any one day, it felt like just one super-long day. 

Sokka almost missed the constant running for their lives. At least his sense of time had had some sort of markers to go by. 'Oh, two days ago was when we were almost buried alive by an owl, last week was the one with two volcanoes, yesterday I met a sabertooth moose-lion cub'. That sort of thing. 

Two weeks, and still, Aang hadn't so much as stirred. In the last week or so… or had it been the last few days…? Regardless, only recently, they had finally convinced Katara to leave his side for mealtimes regularly. Before, they'd bring her food after meals she didn't show up for, and often, that food would be untouched when they came to check on her next. She only slept in her own room a few times, mostly just giving into exhaustion and napping right then and there, only halfway onto Aang's mattress. The constant cycle of healing and worrying and collapsing had to end, for the sake of Katara's own health. If it wouldn't end because Aang suddenly improved, they'd have to end it by forcing Katara to take care of herself. 

\---

Another week, and Katara had actually joined them in the dining hall of her own accord tonight. With some effort, she even opened up, laughing along with the playful banter around the meal. 

A commotion on deck interrupted the jovial atmosphere. Sokka cursed their luck. Bad timing, universe. 

Katara rushed out first, sprinting down the hall with a pounding of boots. Sokka barely remembered to grab his helmet before following, realizing that, were it some sort of ambush, he shouldn't screw over their disguise with his clearly-not-Fire-Nation, clearly-not-an-adult face. 

He slid the helmet on as he ran, pounding up the stairs after his sister. The noises had changed in quality, but not in volume. 

It wasn't an ambush. 

"You're finally awake!" Katara cheered. 

Sokka's face split into a grin before he even saw the deck. "Aang! Welcome back to the land of the living, bud!" He rushed forward, tugging the little airbender into a tight hug. 

Aang tensed with alarm, then screwed up his face in confusion. "...Sokka?"

"Oh, shit, the faceplate…" Reaching up to release it, he didn't react in time to catch Aang as he collapsed. 

"Aang!" Katara called, terrified, as she lunged to break his fall. "Oh, no, oh, no… he wasn't ready to move around just yet! He must have been so scared waking up here, I should have stayed with him!" 

"Katara, calm down." Sokka urged. "You couldn't stay with him every second of every day, Katara. You did the sensible thing. Get him back to bed, okay? I'll help you carry him. It's gonna be alright." 

Katara nodded, eyes wet with tears. Sokka scooped Aang's limp form into his arms, mindful of his wounds as Katara directed, and followed his sister back to Aang's room. 

She walked stiffly, like she was repeating the same things to herself, but wasn't giving them a voice. 

"You did enough, Katara. You spent so much time in there, it's really some sort of miracle you  _ weren't  _ there, actually! Like, percentage-wise, you spent so little time  _ not  _ in that room-" 

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I get it. It's fine. I'm fine." 

Her tone told him everything he needed to know, but he sealed his lips anyway. She needed to work on healing Aang, to do something tangible to feel like she was making it up to him, regardless of how much she'd already done beforehand. 

She really was stubborn.

He laid out Aang on the bed, gently, face-up, as instructed. Katara sent him for more fresh water, boiled from a little contraption he'd set up, mimicking the way the swamp benders extracted fresh water from swamp goo. That awful swamp hadn't been a total waste of time, after all. 

The familiar blue glow filled the room, working away the fresh stress of the evening, and Aang's eyes fluttered back open. 

Seeing the look pass between the two of them, Sokka felt it was time to give them some space. 

He slipped out the door, shutting it as quietly as he could, and tiptoed away. 

\---

Zuko was… different. Mai couldn't quite decide if it was a good or a bad thing, but it was definitely  _ different.  _ He brooded now, for one thing, which had its own sort of charm. A younger Zuko would have gotten angry and shouted, or slipped away to pout, but this was full-on  _ brooding.  _ It was unnecessarily dramatic, and far too emotionally vulnerable for a prince, but he did definitely look good doing it. 

He was also much better at kissing now. They'd been so young, before, and he'd basically given her tense, awkward pecks. She'd told herself, at the time, he was just nervous because he liked her. She'd told herself Azula was wrong, that she was pulling assumptions out of thin air, that maybe Zuko just really liked the concept of soulmates and it had nothing to do with any little boys he may or may not have dreamed about when he was younger. 

She'd often tried to summon fire, after they kissed. 

Now, he kissed her properly. He was still tense, still awkward, but those things were practically baked into his personality by this point. He kissed, now, like he had practice. 

She tried not to think about just who he'd been practicing  _ with.  _

She swallowed down the bitter taste of jealousy rising in the back of her mouth. 

In the three years she'd missed, Zuko had grown. Grown taller, grown more muscular, grown more handsome, despite the mutilation warping half his face. The brutal scar really worked in favor of the whole brooding thing, too. 

He'd had the  _ nerve  _ to ask if she was  _ okay  _ with this. 

The  _ nerve  _ to think that she'd be fine being a prop, to think she'd just  _ accept  _ his indulgence in his basest proclivities, to be perfectly happy to sit by while the man she fell back in love with pined over some degenerate savage, twisting an upstanding member of the royal family into something utterly unrecognizable. 

The worst part? 

She actually was. 

If it meant being by Zuko's side, to scrape even a facsimile of affection from him, to bask in the simulacrum of a relationship he could offer her? 

She'd do just about anything. 

\---

"How'd your plan with Zuko go?" Aang asked after he was brought up to speed on everything else. "It seemed like you were right about Azula asking him to come back, weren't you?"

He seemed oblivious to the tension that rippled through the group at the mention of Zuko. Sokka pretended he didn't notice it, either. "I haven't gotten a chance to check in with him yet, actually. The spirit hasn't shown up since Ba Sing Se." 

"Aw, that's too bad. Maybe I can help you talk to it? There's gotta be some Avatar thing I can do to get its attention." Aang seemed to be thinking pretty seriously about it. 

Sokka breathed a sigh of relief. At least Aang was on his side here. Better, it seemed like Sokka's perceived predicament was helping Aang get out of the funky headspace he'd nearly descended into, feeling frustrated and helpless with his injuries. "That'd be great, buddy. We'll try it out later tonight."

" _ After  _ he gets a healing session in." Katara interjected. 

"Yeah, after your healing session." Sokka obediently amended. 

Aang frowned, but didn't argue the point. 

The Avatar was passed around for the rest of the day, everyone on board wanting to either meet him or catch up with him, and Sokka found himself waiting anxiously for the impromptu appointment they'd made. He certainly hadn't been planning on this outcome, but he wasn't complaining, either. The way he saw it, Aang got to feel important, and he got to see Zuko, so it was a win-win. And if the others all regarded him suspiciously for the next few days, knowing he'd spoken with the Fire Prince… well, they were assholes anyway. Screw them. 

\---

"Do we really have to sit like this?" Sokka asked dubiously, attempting to mimic Aang's posture with only moderate success. His hips weren't nearly as flexible as the airbender's, and his knees didn't go nearly as far down. 

"Yes. This is how you meditate. Now, breathe with me, okay?" 

Sokka grumbled a little more, but acquiesced. He matched his breathing with Aang's, following the monk's murmured instructions to clear his mind, to focus on the Spirit World. Together, they reached a state of incredible calm, Sokka's mind quieting like it rarely had before, and a stray thought slipped through that  _ this is really nice, actually, I should do this more often  _ before Aang noticed his distraction and guided him back into the meditative stillness with him. 

Slowly, the room began to… shift, in a way that felt familiar. Sokka opened his eyes, against Aang's earlier instructions, and found the ship had disappeared. Before him, a glowing version of Aang sat, tattoos illuminated, eyes still closed. 

"You're not focussing again." The glowing Aang chastised. 

"Sorry, it's just… this is the Spirit World, isn't it?" Judging by the bizarre scenery, it couldn't be anywhere else. 

Aang cracked an eye open, the same blue glow spilling from between the lids. "What? We're still on the ship, I can see you in front of- oh. You're not in there, are you?" 

"How can you tell?" Sokka glanced down at himself, seeming normal to his own eyes. 

"I can feel you being all restless, but you're totally still. You must have gone without me." 

"Oh, shit. Is that okay?" Sokka didn't really know how Avatar meditation stuff was supposed to work, so maybe this was dangerous? He'd gotten that weird warning from the owl spirit, too, hadn't he?

The glowing eye slid closed again, the Avatar returning to his perfect posture again. "I think it's fine. I don't think I should intrude on your visit with Zuko, anyway. Do you see the spirit you usually do anywhere?" 

Sokka glanced around. There were some small critters skittering about, but no giant deer. "Nope."

"Monkey feathers." Aang cursed. "Well, do you want to try something else?" 

Sokka shrugged, then recalled Aang wouldn't be able to see it. "I don't know. Shouldn't you be the expert here, Oh Great and Powerful Avatar?" 

Aang pouted. "I'm trying, okay? You've had more experience with this than me, you know." 

"Yeah, yeah." Sokka hated that that was true. He glanced around again. "Hey! Jin Lu! Where are you at, buddy?" He called. 

"Is that its name?" Aang asked. "Jin Lu?" 

"Yeah, that's what Bato told me. Apparently he got the same one for his own spirit journey." 

Aang nodded along. "Do you want me to help you call him?" 

"Uhh, I guess? If you think that'll help. It can't hurt, at least. I don't think." 

"Okay!" 

Together, Aang and Sokka called out for the deer spirit, Sokka turning in circles trying to catch a glimpse of him, and finally, finally, he responded to their call. 

"There you are!" Sokka greeted, and Aang brightened. 

"Oh, did it work?" 

"Yeah, Aang, thanks for your help." 

"No problem, Sokka!" Aang chirped, then vanished in a flash, presumably returning to his body. 

Sokka returned his attention to the spirit. "What took you so long, buddy?" He asked. 

Jin Lu stepped forward, leaning in with his huge head, like he had back at Hei Bai's forest. Sokka responded in kind, touching their foreheads together. 

Images flashed through his mind, scenes of pollution and destruction. Huge factories coughing clouds of smoke and ash into the skies, spilling gallons of putrid water into rivers, forests disappearing, only empty expanses left in their absence. 

"Oh, yeah. You're a spirit of nature, right? Those must be hurting you…"

The spirit answered with a sad bleating, rising back to his full height. 

"Are you busy, then? I wanted to go visit Zuko, but if I'm pulling you away from…" He twisted his wrist in a dismissive motion, "...you know, important spirity business, don't let me keep you." 

The spirit huffed, tilting its head like it would be rolling its eyes if, y'know, it had any pupils. It turned and, with a familiar nod, beckoned him to follow. 

The sea returned beneath them, moving past quickly as they traveled through the rivers of the Earth Kingdom and across the sea, into the heart of the Fire Nation. On the way, Jin Lu slowed to show the factories and scorched plains he'd lamented. Sokka tried to memorize their vague locations, but judging distance here was nigh impossible. 

Finally, the Fire Palace took shape, and inside, Zuko stormed through the halls, dressed finely with his hair tugged into a proper topknot, expression flushed with anger. Of course, even this late, he wasn't sleeping. He stormed into a bedroom, awakening Azula inside, and had a short spat with her before storming back out. 

"Ugh, go to bed already, you dumbass!" Sokka groaned. 

Zuko paused. He glanced around, looking straight through Sokka, but the rage seemed to dissipate a bit, his shoulders relaxing minutely. 

"I should go to sleep…" He murmured to himself. 

Sokka pumped a fist in victory. "Yes!" 

Awkwardly, he followed through the halls, Zuko walking back to his chambers at a more measured pace, boots tapping out a gentler rhythm. The distance between the siblings' bedrooms was small, obviously in the same general wing, and Zuko disappeared inside. Sokka followed directly through the wall, taking a comfortable seat in a luxurious couch near the balcony. 

Zuko slipped the ornament from his hair, releasing his tight topknot. The hair stuck out at odd angles, some sort of paste or wax holding the edges in place. It had grown out quite a bit, but not enough to all reach the knot. He scratched his fingers through it, attempting to settle it back in place, before giving up, moving to release the straps of his decorative armor, instead. 

A short ways into this display, Sokka realized what he was about to be secretly privy to, and bolted. 

Secretly spying from the Spirit World was no time to see his boyfriend strip the first time! Wrong time, wrong place! Especially since with the dumb spirit rules, he wouldn't even be able to do anything about it… 

Standing here in the hallway, remembering Zuko was literally  _ taking his clothes off  _ behind that door was really not helping Sokka with the whole not-dwelling-on-it thing, so he began to pace- to take a walk, he mentally amended. 

Come to think of it, where was Uncle Iroh? He'd be a useful ally for the invasion, if he could be made available. He had fought on their side back in Ba Sing Se, choosing to be captured rather than put the Avatar in further danger, so he'd probably be imprisoned somewhere, right? How long would it take Zuko to fall asleep? Would he have time to find the prison before he did so? 

Cutting off his train of thought, Zuko phased through the door beside him, a giant, golden muzzle following behind as Jin Lu pushed him bodily forward. 

"Oh, hey." Sokka greeted. 

"Don't 'oh, hey' me, tell your deer to quit it already!" Zuko grumbled. 

"Jin Lu? A little privacy, if you would?" Sokka requested in his most pompous voice. The spirit snorted, looking as offended as an ephemeral deer could look, and stomped off. "Better?" 

"Yes. Thank you." Zuko smoothed his clothes out awkwardly, the simple robes a stark contrast to the layered outfit he'd worn just previous. "Do you wanna, uh, come in?" He invited, gesturing to the door behind him. 

"Sure." Sokka pranced through the door, flinging himself to the familiar, enormous bed. "Why are you being all weird tonight?" He accused, seeing Zuko hover awkwardly at the other end of the room. 

He shrugged. "It feels different inviting you to my room. Y'know, now that we're officially dating and all. Feels more… intimate, I guess." 

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Dude, we can't even  _ do  _ anything. Spirit World, remember?" 

"Well, sure, but… it's just different, okay?" 

"Okay, okay." Sokka waved a hand, flopping back onto the bed. Hesitantly, Zuko joined him. He had a feeling there was more to the prince's weird mood, but didn't press. "Missed you." He admitted. 

Zuko allowed a small smile to dimple his cheek. "Missed you, too."

Sokka rolled over, holding his chin in his hands and smiling thoughtfully up at his boyfriend. "Wish I could kiss you right now." 

Zuko stiffened. "Sokka, I…" 

Oh, no. Was this the big breakup? Did he change his mind, being back in the Fire Nation, and didn't want to date a guy anymore? 

"Azula asked me and Mai to date. To fake date. Each other, I mean, not both of us dating Azula. That'd be weird, even for her." Zuko spilled in a rush. 

"Yeah, I didn't really need the clarification, but thanks." Sokka tilted his head. "Did you agree?"

Zuko nodded. "Yes. I did. And we… Mai and I kissed. A few times. I wanted you to know." 

"Yeah, I figured fake dating would entail some of that. Keeping up appearances and all. Why would Azula want you two to date?" 

"Fake date." Zuko corrected, unnecessarily. "And I don't know. We used to fake date, before I was banished. I must have told you about that." 

Sokka wracked his memories, but came up empty. "No? I don't think you did." 

"Oh." Zuko fiddled his thumbs a bit, looking away and gathering himself before continuing. "Well, she asked us to fake date then so Mai could keep playing with her, and because Mai actually did have a crush on me, and because Azula thought I was being way too obvious about the whole, you know, liking boys thing." 

"Were you?" Sokka teased. 

Zuko shrugged. "I guess so. Obvious enough that she knew about you, right?" 

Sokka remembered the enthusiasm with which Ty Lee had recognized him back in Omashu. "That's right… I think they realized I was your soulmate before they realized Aang was the Avatar." He laughed, scratching the back of his head. "I guess I'm pretty obvious, too, huh?" 

"Anyway… the only one of those reasons that still applies is that I'm still… y'know, still into guys. I can't think Azula actually wants to protect me, though." 

"Maybe you'd be surprised. She's still your sister, after all." Sokka pointed out. 

Zuko frowned. 

Sokka chuckled. "Yeah, you're right, that can't be it. At the very least, she can't admit to doing something for your benefit. There's gotta be another angle. Does Mai still like you?"

"I… yeah, I think she does. I asked her if she was okay with the arrangement, and she said, and I quote, she'd 'get over me again'." 

Sokka rubbed his chin, putting pieces together. "Sounds to me like Azula has a crush on Mai." 

Zuko spluttered, shocked. "What?! No, that doesn't even make sense! What?!" 

"Think about it with me. She kept your interest in guys a tight secret for literal years, despite figuring it out probably as soon as you did, if not earlier. She knows Mai has a crush on you and keeps trying to set you guys up, even though it'll obviously never work on your end. And she originally set this all up just to keep Mai around. Doesn't that sound like she's got a crush to you?" 

"That, well, that's- Azula can't be- Azula can't like girls! That's crazy!" Zuko dug his hands into his hair violently, tugging at the strands. 

"Well, why not? Doesn't that make this make sense?" 

"Because she always called me- she called me awful things when she had even a sneaking suspicion about my… interests." Zuko murmured. "Things I don't want to repeat." 

"What? Like 'degenerate', or 'deviant', or maybe 'shameful'-" Sokka guessed until Zuko cut him off. 

"We have worse words for people like me here." 

"Oh." Sokka sat up, folding his legs underneath himself, rising to be at the same level as Zuko beside him. "Sorry. I didn't know."

"How could you?" Zuko laughed derisively. 

"But… doesn't it make sense? Maybe she's scared, too." Sokka pressed. 

Zuko tensed, sinking into his shoulders. "Sokka… I think you're right, you know. It's just… it's so much harder, dealing with the way they act, the things they say, the way they treat me… it's so much harder every time you remind me how  _ bad  _ it is." 

Sokka froze. 

Zuko continued. 

"Being able to tell myself that… that they were right, that I deserved it, that always gave me, I don't know, it made it so that things made  _ sense.  _ Like, if I was the one who was wrong, I could do something to protect myself. But then you always came along, telling me I was worth more than that, that I didn't deserve what they did, that meant that all of the awful things were… were unpredictable, and I had no control over what or when or how bad. Thinking of Azula as just… as just my scared little sister instead of, like, the cold-hearted, manipulative mastermind, is just… you see how that's harder?"

Sokka swallowed, feeling nauseous, even in his spiritual form. "Zuko… I'm so sorry, I didn't know, didn't consider…" 

"Not to say that I don't appreciate it, I do, I really do. Knowing things could be different, could be better… I think that's why I was able to be so happy, back in Ba Sing Se. I wasn't afraid of screwing up, of what people thought of me. Of us. It's just… being back here again…" 

Sokka reached out for him out of habit, but dropped his hand when it failed to make contact. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Zuko, I shouldn't have asked you to do this." 

Zuko shook his head, turning to face him, determination etched into his features. "No. I'm glad I'm here. This is where I can do the most good. No matter what Azula or my father or anyone else does… I'm here to make a difference. I wouldn't have it any other way."

\---

They talked late into the night, Sokka divulging what he could about the invasion's tactics, telling Zuko about the others' distrust in him. He relayed what Jin Lu had shown him, asking Zuko to investigate the locations in question. In turn, Zuko promised to report back on whatever he could be told, not knowing yet if he'd be allowed back into the war room, after what a debacle the last time had been. 

Sokka awoke, cross-legged and sore, on the floor of his room, Aang nowhere to be found, with the sun just peeking over the horizon. 

Stretching, he returned to the deck, intending to greet the morning sun with a proper Kyoshi Warrior workout, and was shocked by the destruction he found on board. 

"What happened here…?" He asked to the brisk morning air. 

"You slept through a whole battle, Snoozles." Toph informed him, kicking him in the shin in greeting. 

"Yow! What was that for!" He whined. 

"Good morning to you, too." She grinned. 

He rubbed the bruised area, pouting, until her words clicked. "Wait, battle? Against who?" 

"Another Fire Nation ship. They realized we were going the wrong way. The sea serpent got them, so we got away." 

"That's… convenient."

"Tell me about it. Now, are you gonna get out of the way, or do you wanna be target practice?" 

He made himself scarce, removing his person from between the metalbender and her target dummies. That was a dangerous place to be, and he wasn't sticking around to see how empty her threat was. 

Instead, he looked around for his dad. Another ship? How had they realized they weren't genuine? And what were they planning to do about repairs, considering Fire Nation ships wouldn't be welcome at most ports, and the crew wouldn't be welcome at the rest? 

Hakoda was having a conversation with Jet just outside the mess hall, in hushed tones, with a lot of fatherly shoulder touches. Sokka backpedaled, realizing this was probably something he shouldn't overhear, but then reconsidered. A little eavesdropping wouldn't hurt, right? 

He ducked around a corner, a secluded spot where he'd seen soldiers gossipping about him, back on Zuko's vessel. He quieted his breath, listening closely. 

"I was just… I was hoping you'd understand me, Chief. I left men behind back there. I know you'd do the same for anyone you left behind." Jet was saying. 

"I know, son, but think clearly for me. Ba Sing Se was only just occupied. It's going to be the most intensely-guarded spot in the world right now, bar the Fire Palace itself. They want to make sure they keep their new hold there." Hakoda argued.

"Yeah, and aren't we going to the Fire Palace  _ right now _ ? Isn't this mission important enough to risk it?" 

"We're going there to end the war, son, not just to free two men. I'm sorry, but I can't let you do something so reckless." 

"Smellerbee and Longshot aren't just two of my men! The Freedom Fighters were my family! Do you know what it's like, leaving your family behind, vulnerable, while you run off to go fight on the other side of the world?!" 

That one would've cut deep. Sokka felt that one in his own gut, remembering his abandoned duty to the South Pole. 

"...Yes. Yes, I do." Hakoda breathed. 

"So, you know why I have to go back." 

"No." Hakoda responded emphatically, despite the targeted argument. "No, it's still too dangerous. Your friends won't thank you if you get yourself killed on a suicide mission. They'll still be trapped, and you'll be dead." A lengthy pause. Then, with more emotion than before, "They'll be okay, Jet. They can protect themselves. You trained them yourself, remember? If they're anything like you, and it sounds to me like they are, no force on this earth could bring them down."

There was an awful sound, like a choked sob. Sokka really shouldn't have listened to this. He peeked out of the corner to see Jet, collapsed into Hakoda's shoulder, dampening his Fire Navy uniform dark with tears, the Chief holding him just like he would've held Sokka or Katara when they were younger, scared awake by nightmares. 

Sokka tiptoed away as silently as possible. Of all the things he expected when they met Jet, his father embracing him as a third child was definitely not one of them. 

\---

That night, they invited Aang out to dinner with them. The weird funk had returned with full force, apparently, and the airbender declined. Katara warned them to keep an eye on him, noting his weird behavior. 

They returned to the ship late at night, Katara bringing a portion of their spoils to Aang's room for him, while Sokka remained on deck to moongaze. 

Despite the heavy cloud cover, she shone brightly tonight, almost glittering, her shape reflected sharply on the lapping waves below. It was eerie, even unnatural, how the clouds parted just for her face. 

Belatedly, Sokka realized that weird feeling in his gut was the same as when spirits were involved. 

It took him until the moonlight solidified, Yue taking form in front of him, that he connected the dots. 

"Hello, Sokka." She greeted, in that sweet, soft voice, distorted as it was by her intangible form. 

"Shit, Yue! I mean, uh… hi?" He smiled, waving at her. 

She smiled in return, letting out a familiar giggle, before her expression fell. "I'm afraid I'm not here to catch up, Sokka. I wish I were. Unfortunately, I have some dire news." 

Oh, no. "What is it?" Something big, certainly, for a spirit as important as the  _ actual moon  _ to deliver it, personally. 

"The Avatar has left your ship. He has gone, alone, to the Fire Nation. He has only his wind glider to bear him, and he will not succeed in his journey. You and the others must go after him, quickly." 

"Oh, no. Oh no oh no oh no oh fuck!" Sokka tugged at his hair. "You can't be serious!" 

"I will do my best to ensure he does not sink below the waves with my waterbending, but even the moon has limits." She smiled sadly at him. 

"Okay. I'll grab the others. Thank you, Yue. For everything. Not just this, you know, but-"

"Yes. I know." She acknowledged, the smile still on her lips. She pulled away, beginning to fade.

"Will I see you again?" Sokka called, reaching desperately back to her. 

"Someday. When you need me again. But, remember, even when you can't see me, I'm always looking out for you." At last, she faded fully, the moon beginning to dim. "Goodbye, Sokka." 

The clouds moved to cover the face of the moon, obscuring her firmly out of view. Sokka slumped, mourning for only a moment, before drawing himself back up. Aang was in danger. 

"Katara?" He called. "Katara!" 

"She just ran up to the helm. Is something wrong?" Toph asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"Yue just told me Aang's in trouble. We need to get moving  _ now. _ Go get Appa ready, I'm going to find Katara."

"Yue? Who's that?" 

"She used to be a friend of mine, and now she's the moon. It's a long story, Toph, please. Appa."

"You're friends with the moon? The moon told you Aang's in trouble? Like, the moon in the sky?" 

"Yes, like the moon in the sky. I'm the spirits guy, remember? Now, go! No more questions!"

"Yeah, yeah. Yes, sir." Toph grumbled, stomping over to the bison. "Let's go, you big fuzzball!"

Sokka raced up the stairs to grab his sister. The helm, Toph had said. Katara must be going to find their father. And, if she'd been running, she may have already noticed Aang's disappearance. 

He only hoped they had time to reach the boy before the consequences of his own actions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some of u guessed this turn of events last chapter, so congrats to yall!!  
> this is the last chapter im gonna post for a little while, as im about to take my between-seasons hiatus again! i really need to reread the fic so far and to figure out where im going with it, so hang tight!


	28. The Headband

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am back!! and with another long ass chapter  
> i guess i should just expect them to hit 10k at this point but this was supposed to be a short chapter!! what the hell!! i hope yall dont mind the huge chapters bc i cannot stop

The cloud cover was a smart move on Aang's part, for a guy with absolutely no skill whatsoever with subterfuge. Sokka had seen enough of Aang's idea of 'laying low' to know that a talking, bison-shaped cloud was about as good as it got with this kid. 

He immediately busied himself making the cave livable for the night, voicing his dread that this was going to be a permanent state of affairs.

"We don't need to hide out in caves if we have disguises!" Katara claimed. 

Disguises. Right. Sokka rolled his eyes. "Because those have  _ always  _ worked out just so well for us in the past, right?" 

"This'll be different, Sokka, you'll see!" Aang claimed. "You know, I used to hang out here in the Fire Nation all the time with my friend Kuzon! I know all the customs and slang and everything!" 

"From a hundred years ago?" Sokka countered. 

"Well, you'll just have to help out, then, won't you, Princess?" Toph goaded. 

"Oh, so you'll trust my intel about  _ this _ , then?" Sokka grumbled. 

Katara rolled her eyes, this time. "Don't be so dramatic." 

Aang seemed a bit disappointed. "Guess we'll listen to Sokka instead, then." He pouted. 

"Nah, you have at it, Aang. Zuko's not really a  _ hip _ kind of guy, stuck up there in that stuffy palace." Sokka allowed. 

The airbender brightened. "First, disguises, though, right?" 

Hmm, Sokka  _ did  _ like new clothes. "Alright, disguises first. Where to?" 

\---

They found themselves behind a little laundry shop, what seemed like an entire village's worth of clothes hung out to dry. 

"Oh, no, not here!" Sokka groaned. "These belong to people! Poor people, probably, who don't have any other clothes! Look at them!" 

The clothes were nothing fancy, mostly in decent repair, but with obvious wear. 

"What else are we gonna do, Sokka? We can't exactly waltz into town and  _ buy _ clothes, not with us dressed as foreigners and you dressed as a navy soldier." Katara poked him right in the breastplate, proving her point. 

"I'd feel better about it if we were stealing some rich person's clothes." Sokka insisted. 

"You think we can pass ourselves off as hoity-toity rich people?" Toph asked. She thrust a thumb over at Aang pointedly. " _ All  _ of us?" 

"Hey, I can be fancy!" Aang defended. 

Katara stepped in."She has a point. Besides, that'll be more well-guarded. There's not a fence here or anything." 

Sokka considered. "Well, maybe not all of us, but if I went in alone..." 

"That's too dangerous!" Aang argued, while Katara scoffed. 

"You think  _ you  _ can be sneaky?" She challenged. 

"I can! I broke into the Dai Li's secret hideout, remember? Well, with Zuko's help, but still!" Sokka reminded them, hands to his hips indignantly. "I still have the mask he gave me and everything!" 

"Ooh, a mask? Like a cool sneaky superhero?" Aang asked, suddenly interested. 

"Yeah!" Sokka cheered, excited to have someone on board. 

Katara sighed, giving in. "Well, whatever. Get us something good, then."

"I won't let you guys down!" 

\---

Mask secured and armor covered by his red cloak, the Red Dragon snuck behind buildings in town, headed for the fancier district towards the top of the hill. He had to take more care than he had on his last mission, in Ba Sing Se, now that he was wearing heavy metal armor instead of his usual light leather tunic, meaning he made much more noise with much less effort now. 

The streets were busy, lively, with people and city guards heading every which way, several even slipping through the alleyways he hid down to get to their destinations faster. Crime must be pretty low here, if they weren't even worried about the dark corners of the city...

"Hey, you there!" A perceptive guard shouted. Sokka- no, The Red Dragon startled, turning to see the guard break into a run. Impulsively, he clambered up onto a rooftop with a dexterity that surprised even himself. Were the roofs here lower, or had he gotten that much better at scaling them? 

In minutes, he'd lost the guard entirely, disappearing along the rooftops and heading deeper into the city. 

He approached his goal swiftly, eyeing the sprawling estates just past the city proper with a keen eye. He needed to get lucky, to chance upon someone doing laundry out on the grounds. It was nice weather out, so chances were good, but he also didn't have any intel whatsoever on the area. 

Maybe he was a little too confident, earlier. 

Seeing a guard heading in his direction, he made a split-second decision and launched himself over the nearest wall, throwing himself into the neatly-kept grounds of the estate. 

And jackpot! Maybe somebody out there really was looking out for him. Thanks Yue, or Jin Lu, or whatever other spirits who weren't total jerks all the time! 

Seeing absolutely nobody on the grounds, the laundry hanging out to dry out in the open, a light breeze fluttering through proving they were nearly finished drying already, Sokka strode over to the lines with confidence. He took his time plucking down garments that would fit him and his friends, carefully considering color combinations and layering patterns. Something full-length for Aang, to cover up his tattoos, something super light and breathable for him and Katara, used to the snow and not the heat, something easy to move in with pants for Toph... everything went super smoothly! He turned, still confident, to the wall where he'd come in and... 

How was he supposed to get out of here with his arms full of clothes?! He'd climbed in, he'd have to climb out, and he couldn't do that without arms! 

"Shit... think, Sokka, think!" He whisper-shouted to himself. 

"Ma'am," An authoritative voice called from some distance, carrying across the grounds. "A suspicious masked figure was spotted near here. Have you seen anything strange?" 

Oh, shit, the guards were still looking for him! Oh, man, this was bad... he started shoving the garments into his armor, using the extra room in the adult-sized plating to stuff the clothes in haphazardly. 

"Well, we'll just take a look around your estate, if you don't mind. To ensure your safety." 

Oh, double shit! They were coming this way! Shoving the skirt he'd grabbed for Katara into his belt, he dashed for the wall, hearing footsteps coming his way. Think fast! Why was it so hard to think!

The grass, stiff and crunchy in the summer heat, gave away the guard's footsteps as surely as they gave away Sokka's. If the guard was looking for a suspicious masked figure... He ripped the mask off, shoving it into his belt alongside the skirt, just as the guard turned the corner. 

His cloak settled, covering his armor and all of the stolen goods trapped within it, and he put on his best 'innocent idiot' face. 

"Is something the matter, sir?" Sokka asked, voice cracking under the tension. 

"Yes... have you seen anything... suspicious around here? There're reports of a masked figure..." The guard gave him an appraising sweep of the eyes, taking in his nervous stance and foreign face. 

"Nope! Nothing! Gee, that sounds spooky, glad you're on the job!" Sokka joked, barely holding back his habitual broad hand gestures. 

"...Of course." 

"Well, if that's all..." Sokka shuffled in place, trying to turn his back on the guard before the breeze picked up, and felt something slipping out of the armor. "Oh, no..." 

A heavy, wooden object slid from his belt, tumbling down the confines of his cloak, and came to a rest in the dry grass, red-lacquered surface shining in brilliant contrast to the dull yellow of the lawn. 

"You...!" The guard shouted, reaching for his blade. 

"Gotta go!" Sokka snatched the mask from the grass, sprinting for the wall. He could feel the clothes trying to slip free, restraining his movements, but dashed up the wall valiantly, grasping the top with one hand, the mask still held in the other. 

"Get back here!" The guard insisted, chasing too slowly to stop Sokka from landing on the other side of the wall. At the moment of impact, he caught himself in a roll, transferring his momentum, and dashed forward just as he regained his footing. 

Hearing the guards approaching once more, he slipped the mask back on his face, taking to the rooftops again. They didn't see him last time, right? 

"Psst!" A voice called from the trees. "Hey, Sokka! Over here!" 

Blessed spirits, it was Aang, waving him into the treeline desperately. 

Behind him, the guards still followed. If he went to Aang now, they'd see him. He couldn't afford to lead them back to their hideout. 

"Go! I'll catch up in a minute! Don't let them see you!" The Red Dragon hissed, peeking his mouth out from under the mask so his voice would better carry. 

Aang hesitated, glancing at the guards, but nodded, disappearing back into the trees. 

Good, so that was the way back to the camp. The Red Dragon danced across the rooftops, putting distance between himself and the guards. Several pieces of fabric slithered out of his armor as he went, and he rearranged everything while he had a moment to breathe. The shouts settled over time, the guards giving up the chase, and he retraced his steps, picking up the lost garments as he went. 

A flash of orange in the woods alerted him to Aang's whereabouts, way too obvious if you knew what you were looking for, and off he dashed. 

\---

"Wow, Sokka, you really came through!" Katara praised, smoothing the skirt out around her hips.

"It was a close call, though! I saw, like, twenty guards chasing him!" 

"Aang, don't tell her that!" Sokka snapped, pinching the boy's ear. 

"It was stupid, and dangerous, but I'm glad you weren't hurt." Katara spun around. "How do I look?" 

"Ah, your braid..." Sokka pointed out, at the same time as Aang pointed out their mother's necklace. 

"Oh, right..." Katara first unclasped the necklace, handing it to Sokka to store carefully away, next to Zuko's. She reached behind her head, releasing her hair loopies, but paused, fingers brushing the accessory Aang had woven for her. He'd replaced the flowers periodically with new blooms, and it still held some lovely yellow blossoms from Ba Sing Se. "Do I really have to get rid of it?" 

Sokka nodded emphatically. "Zuko said no one braids their hair here. It's all topknots and ponytails, I'm afraid." 

"What about that girl, Azula's friend?" Katara tried. 

"She's in the circus." Sokka shrugged. "Keep it if you want, but if we want to fit in..." 

She sighed. "Oh, all right, you win." Katara pulled free the floral accessory and the tie at the end of the braid, methodically unweaving the strands from one another. As they fell apart, they retained their tight waves, leaving her with thick, unruly locks tumbling down her back. "Better?" 

Sokka nodded, struggling to loop his too-short hair into a proper topknot, frustrated by the hairs escaping him. "Want me to help you fix it into something else, or do you want to leave it down?"

She frowned, sliding the beads from her hair and unwinding the thin braids now hanging freely by her face. "Yes, please. It'll get in my face too much, otherwise." 

Sokka took the beads and ties from her, tugging her hair into a half-topknot, much like the one a younger Zuko had demonstrated his mother preferring. He wound the woven fishing line jewelry around the knot, tugging it securely into place. "There! What do you think?" 

"She looks great!" Aang complimented genuinely, sparkles in his eyes. 

Katara took a long look in their little hand mirror, considering. Her hand drifted to her naked neck. "Do you think we could maybe grab some accessories in town?"

"I'd like a new headband, while we're at it." Toph piped up. 

"Sure, why not? We look like locals now, don't we?" Sokka grinned, pleased by his success. Everyone's stolen clothes fit just fine, and they looked fashionable, to boot! "And we can grab some grub while we're there, too!" 

"I could go for some grub!" Aang concurred, tugging his fancy new headband tight, securing it over his incriminating tattoo. 

Sokka relaxed, relieved that the Avatar had finally caved in. On the ship, it'd been such a big deal to him to even consider hiding the bright blue arrows, pointing out his true identity as vividly as they pointed out his chi paths, but it seemed he'd gone back on that stubborn stance by now. 

Satisfied by their disguises, Sokka led the way back into town. Maybe this whole impromptu Fire Nation tour wouldn't be such a fiasco, after all. 

\---

Zuko tugged the hood of the cloak further over his face, striding past the guards as their attention turned and into the prison itself. If he'd found the right information, Uncle's cell should be easy to locate, high in the tower and past several rounds of patrols. 

He wasn't necessarily  _ banned  _ from being here, but he  _ was  _ on unstable ground. He had spent quite a lot of time traveling with the man before his imprisonment, after all, and it would reflect badly on him if he was seen openly visiting. 

It would, maybe, be a bit worse if word got out he was visiting under the cloak of night and sneaking past guards, but at least it would be easier to keep quiet. 

"You shouldn't have come here, my nephew." Uncle chastised as he approached the cell bars. 

Zuko flinched. "I'm sorry, Uncle. You know what had to be done-" 

"No, Zuko. I mean that it was foolish and risky to come see me now. I understand why you did what you did." 

"Oh." Of course Uncle wouldn't hold this against him. Sokka had explained the idea beforehand, after all. He cleared his throat. "I wanted to check in with you. See how you're holding up." 

"I'm fine, Nephew. It is good to see you. It would be better if I did not need to worry about you coming to danger for my sake." Uncle's sharp amber eyes flicked over his shoulder, eyeing the hallway behind him. "The guard patrol will be returning this way soon. You should shout, convince them you came to berate me." 

Zuko blanched. "Uncle, I can't do that-"

"I know dishonesty pains you, Nephew, but this is no time for your ideals. Now, shout." Uncle turned his back, slumping over as though ignoring Zuko's words. 

Zuko fretted, hearing the tapping of the guard's boots, as predicted. What should he say? What character was he playing? He'd only managed to play his part in the catacombs because he remembered the words from the play, the Princess's lines befitting the situation closely enough to be believable. Here, though? Now? Who did he need to be? 

"You brought this on yourself, you know!" He choked out, stumbling on the delivery. "I did what I had to do in Ba Sing Se! You're a fool for not joining me!" His volume built as he gained momentum, leaning into the character. "You're crazy! You're a crazy old man, and if you weren't in jail, you'd be sleeping in a gutter!" 

The footsteps of the guard retreated, growing softer until they were inaudible. 

Zuko caught his breath, chest feeling tight. "I'm sorry… I know- I know you told me to yell at you, but-" But the character he'd had to play was himself, himself as he had been only a few short months ago, himself when he was still confused and angry and hadn't yet reached that strange clarity within himself, when he still begrudged Uncle his help. 

"You did well, Prince Zuko." Uncle praised, voice tight. "I almost believed it, myself." 

"I'm sorry." Zuko apologized again. "Listen, I did come here for a reason. And it's worth the risk, I swear." 

"We don't have long before the next sweep, Nephew. Make it quick." Uncle warned. 

"Right." Zuko cleared his throat, shoving away his conflicted feelings. "I wanted to let you know that the Avatar is alive." 

Uncle gasped, eyes widening, before regaining control over himself. "That is fantastic news." He murmured, voice quiet and even.

"Sokka's sister was able to heal him. He had just regained consciousness last time Sokka and I spoke." Zuko informed him. 

Uncle nodded slowly. "Good, good. Things are going well, then?" 

Zuko chewed his lip. "Not everything, unfortunately. It seems like the other men from Sokka's tribe don't trust him... don't trust me. They won't tell him anything that's happening, so I don't know what the plan is. Not that it matters, since I haven't been allowed to attend a single war meeting since I returned, so I wouldn't be able to  _ do  _ anything with the information even if I had it." 

"You haven't been allowed...?" Uncle repeated with concern. "What is my brother planning...?" 

Zuko laughed derisively. "Is it really so strange? Considering how badly I screwed up the first one, I can't imagine I'll  _ ever  _ be allowed back in." 

Uncle shook his head. "No. You are the Crown Prince. You have had your title reinstated, so you must have your duties reinstated, as well. This is one of those duties. It makes no sense that he would bar you from the meetings... He may be planning to test you in some way, have you prove yourself." 

"Haven't I proven myself enough? Isn't that what the whole chase for the Avatar was about? What else could I have to prove?" 

"You have proven your loyalty, yes, but have you proven that you learned the lesson he meant to teach you? I think he may yet be uncertain." 

"So... you think he'll have some sort of... trial for me?" Zuko shuddered to think what that might be. Would he be required to fight the Agni Kai again, prove his bravery? Would he have to face further punishment, prove he bowed to his father's authority? Or would he simply be sent on another wild goose chase for another long-forgotten myth, this time without the chance of accidental success? 

"I don't pretend to know what goes on in that man's head, Prince Zuko, but I can say with certainty that it will not be pleasant for you. Consider your actions carefully, my nephew, and make certain you are fully prepared to shoulder their consequences." 

Zuko took a deep breath, feeling it shudder with trepidation. "Yes, Uncle. Thank you. For your advice, and for... for trusting me with so much." 

"Of course, Nephew." Uncle smiled, reaching out to squeeze his hand, the closest they could come in this place to a proper embrace. "Now, go. Quickly. And make sure to be mean about it."

The approaching footsteps were still quiet, the guard taking their time with their patrol, but close enough that his voice should carry. 

"Waste away in here for all I care!" Zuko shouted theatrically, kicking the little guard stool loudly against the wall. "You smell, and I hate you for all time!" 

He winced at the awful line.  _ That  _ was the best he could come up with?! He hoped he was imagining Uncle's muffled chuckles. 

He nearly ran into the approaching guard on his way out, startling her. At least his stormy expression was still intimidating, even with his terrible lines. "Tell anyone about this, and you'll never tell anyone about anything else ever again." He threatened. 

The guard swallowed thickly, nodding. She slunk her way towards Uncle's cell behind him, throwing terrified glances his way. 

He sighed with relief the moment she was out of earshot. He'd been hoping for some good advice when he'd made his way here, or at least a chance to apologize for what Uncle had had to go through already, but he ended up leaving with a heavy heart, dreading the future and regretting his words. 

\---

Weighed down by all their new accessories (offset by their now concerningly-light coin purse), the team gathered around the doors to a relatively cheap restaurant. 

Aang had led the way, greeting the locals in a strange manner that garnered quite a few odd looks, and Sokka quickly regretted succumbing to Aang's polar puppy eyes. A despondent airbender would have been far preferable to all this attention. 

Well, too late now! Maybe Aang would actually notice the looks he was getting, and get the idea. And hopefully, that would be soon. 

Peeking into the restaurant, though, their boisterous guide shrank in on himself. "Uh, I dunno about this place, guys..." 

It took a moment for Sokka to catch his meaning, but finally noticed Aang's eyes flicking between the various slabs of meat hanging from hooks behind the counter. He rolled his eyes. 

"Listen, it's what we can afford. Your all-veggies lifestyle isn't all that cheap when we have to actually  _ buy  _ the food, you know." 

"Yeah, but..." 

Katara placed a gentle hand on his forearm, consoling him. "Do you want to wait outside? I can order you something and bring it out to you." 

Aang shifted his weight uncomfortably, considering his options. "Okay." He finally relented. "As long as it doesn't take too long." 

"We'll be back out before you know it." Katara promised. 

Sokka read the menu options off to Toph, offering details and describing images when she expressed interest. Katara frowned at the list, running her finger past anything mentioning a meat in the description and finding the options severely limited. 

"Hey, Sokka? What's this word?" She asked, seeing the unfamiliar character pop up a few times. 

He peered over her shoulder, following her finger. "Oh, uh... Tofu, I think." He'd asked Zuko the same thing, once, and had discovered the associated dish was not to his liking. 

"Tofu?" Katara asked, uncomprehending. 

"It's not meat. Aang will like it." 

"If you're sure... Can I get two of this one, please?" Katara requested, preferring to share in whatever the airbender was eating. Solidarity, she had said. 

The shopkeep had begun looking suspicious at the conversation, eyeing them over carefully. They were doing an absolutely  _ abysmal  _ job of blending in, so far. He ignored the sharp gaze, ordering for Toph and himself more confidently than Katara had, and they escaped the watchful gaze as quickly as they could. 

Not quickly enough, it would seem, as they'd given Aang time enough to outright disappear. 

"Ugh, he always does this!" Sokka complained, throwing his hands up and almost spilling their food in the process, Katara making a quick save before disaster struck. 

"We'll ask around. Maybe someone saw something." Katara suggested. "Excuse me, ma'am?" 

The woman she flagged down glanced between them curiously, but stopped to listen. 

"Have you seen a boy around here, about this tall, wearing a headband?" She asked, indicating Aang's height with a flat hand. 

The woman shook her head. "No, sorry... but shouldn't you kids be in school this time of day?" 

Katara froze, glancing back at the others for only a moment, before coming up with her cover story. "Oh, no, ma'am. We're older than we look. My brother and I have terrible baby faces. Actually, the boy we're looking for, he's home sick today, and we were watching over him... for our neighbors! This girl here is his little sister." 

Toph waved as she was indicated, staring in the general direction of the woman's ankles. 

"Oh, I... see. Not very responsible of you, is it? Losing a child like that." 

"That's very fair, ma'am, but-" 

"And why wouldn't you ask the guards? This is their job, not the job of some stranger on the street. Really, how anyone trusted you with childcare is beyond me." 

"...Yes, ma'am." Katara replied stiffly, teeth gritted. "Well, thank you for your time, anyway. We'll keep looking." 

Sokka glanced around at the guards in the square, not necessarily recognizing any faces, but remembering the fracas earlier quite clearly. "If you're gonna be poking around the guards, I should make myself scarce. One of them saw my face earlier, and I really don't want to chance..." 

Katara sighed, rolling her eyes. "Alright, Toph and I will ask around, while you sit back and relax at camp. If Aang shows up, find us, okay?" 

"Got it." 

He and the rapidly-cooling food returned to their cozy cave, pacing impatiently as the sun inched by overhead. 

\---

Toph and Katara returned, hours later, having had no luck. 

"We asked every person nearby and every guard we could find, but nobody had seen him! How?! He'd been saying 'Flamey-o, hotman!' to every single person on the street! Somebody had to have remembered him!" Katara grumbled. 

"That's the problem with cities." Toph shrugged. "The more of a fuss you make, the more people ignore you. They always think 'oh, someone else will take care of it!', even when it's something important." 

Katara groaned, flopping to the dirt. "I can't believe this! I know he runs off a lot, but we usually get at least some clue as to where or why!" 

Sokka shrugged. "Maybe he went to forage in the forest. Since he was so upset by the meat and all." 

"But I  _ told  _ him I would find him something! And I did! That tofu stuff!" Katara argued. 

"Hey, it was just an idea." Sokka defended. 

"He  _ did  _ bring Momo with him." Toph added. "He's good at finding fruit." 

"There you go." Sokka nodded emphatically. "He's probably out foraging, and he'll be back once he's found a bunch of lemur food. Which means..." He produced the covered plates from before, now thoroughly cooled. "We can finally eat!" 

Katara frowned, crossing her arms. "We should still wait until he comes back. I don't feel right about this."

"We'll be better at searching on full stomachs." Sokka pointed out, waving her tofu dish beneath her nose. 

She caved visibly, slumping over and reaching for the food. 

"Aww, it's all cold. Hey, Sparky, you can do something about that, right?" Toph complained. 

Sokka frowned. "Does she mean me?" 

Katara shrugged. 

He turned back to Toph, who held out her plate expectantly. "You know I can't firebend  _ all _ the time, right?" 

The little earthbender groaned. "That's so inconvenient! How do you live like that?!" 

He glared back at her, mostly for his own benefit. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. You fancy-pants benders get all the glory, while we non-bending plebeians have to scrape to get by." 

"Oh, please." Katara rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic and start a fire, Sokka." 

He bowed low, with a flourish. "Of course, Madame. Whatever you say, Madame. Shall I wash your feet while I'm at it, or just feed you grapes?" 

"Save it for your  _ boyfriend. _ " Toph jeered. 

Sokka stuck his tongue out at her, making sure to make the associated noise so she knew he was doing it. Still, he made his way over to the fire pit, retrieving his flint from his pack. Toph was right, this  _ was  _ inconvenient. All he could think of while painstakingly coaxing the embers to life was the night at the fountain, lighting the lamps with quick bursts of flame, easy and precise. For those short spells, he got to feel just as special and powerful as his friends, like maybe he really did have a place helping save the world. Without the fire, he was reduced back to the bag boy, the guy who washes Appa's toes, the guy who starts the fire with flint and steel because the closest thing they had to a reliable firebender was an Avatar too scared to summon flame. 

The kindling caught, and he arranged their plates around the fire, seated safely on the large, flat rocks within. 

"Thank you, Sokka." Katara sang, accepting her warmed meal.

Toph gave him no such courtesy, taking the food and digging in without a word. 

"Augh! Hot! Hot!" Katara complained, startled. 

"What the hell is in this?!" Toph waved a hand at her mouth, tears in her eyes. 

Sokka paused, noodles half-slurped, glancing between them. Sure, the food had a bit of a kick to it, a pleasant heat building at the back of his mouth, and he was sure he'd be crying by the time he finished, but nothing quite so... aggressive. 

Maybe his dish was just different? 

He stole a bit of komodo-chicken from Toph's plate, testing it. "It's not that bad, guys, what's the big deal?" 

Katara sniffled, watery-eyed, glaring over her plate at him. "You're a monster. You know that, right?" 

A hint of memory drifted forth, Uncle Iroh's amused voice saying ' _ You become used to the sensation. It's really quite delicious, once you are able to enjoy it. _ ' 

Recalling nights in Ba Sing Se, seated next to Zuko in the small Lower Ring apartment, barely able to manage a few bites of whatever Uncle Iroh's latest sadistic dish happened to be, he couldn't believe it. He'd actually started to become desensitized to the burn. 

And Uncle was right. This stuff was really, really tasty. 

"I guess I'm just too manly to be bothered by something this mild." He gloated proudly. 

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I bet you did this on purpose." Katara set aside the food despondently, unable to continue. 

Toph, assured that the food wouldn't outright kill her or make her start breathing fire, powered through. "This isn't so tough! You're not tough!" She chanted between bites, wiping a freely-running nose on her sleeve as she went. 

"Toph, you know we can just... find something else to eat, right?" Sokka attempted, but she just furrowed her brow into an intense glare. 

"You won't beat me at this! I'm the greatest earthbender in the world! I won't be beaten down by some... sneaky Fire Nation food trick!" 

It was... hard to watch. Beside her, Katara drank all the water she could bend into her mouth, trying to wash away the sensation. Sokka slowly finished his plate, watching the sun tick by overhead. It'd be dusk soon, and they still hadn't seen hide nor hair of the Avatar. At least there wasn't some sort of uproar in town, which was their usual indicator that it was time to load up Appa and scoot on out of there, but that didn't mean nothing was  _ wrong.  _

The sky blazed orange, Toph gave up on her food and sat, pouting, in the corner, and Katara had managed to forage for some sort of citrus fruits for herself before Aang showed up again. 

He was happy as a clam, having apparently had a good day at  _ school,  _ of all places, and was eager to return the next day. 

"Oh, hey, you guys have food!" He chirped, seeing the two untouched plates of spicy tofu noodles. "And, ooh, is this tofu?! Thanks, guys!" 

Katara's eyes widened, reacting just too slowly to stop him as he lifted the chopsticks to his lips. "Wait, Aang, no! That's-" 

"Eh? What?" Aang paused, the spicy noodles already dangling from his mouth. "Oh, man, guys, this is really good. You didn't have to get me the mild sauce, though." 

Everyone's jaws dropped in shock. Katara looked defeated. 

"What's wrong? Is it something I said?" Aang frowned in concern, continuing to slurp up the noodles like it was effortless. 

"You win, Twinkle Toes. You win fair and square." Toph groaned. 

"World traveler, that's right... I can't believe I forgot... of  _ course  _ this is nothing to him..." Katara mumbled. 

"Nevermind them, Aang. Tell us what happened with the whole...  _ school  _ thing." Sokka waved the girls off, getting them back on topic. 

"Oh, yeah! It was really interesting, actually. I feel like I'm learning so much!" Aang began to explain, showing off his noodle portrait of the Fire Lord and mentioning something about secret rivers. 

"As fascinating as the concept of a secret Fire Palace river happens to be, and, believe me, I want it to be true... There's no way. It's in a dormant volcano, remember? You don't get water in volcanoes." Sokka pointed out. 

"I'm just  _ saying! _ " Aang insisted. "I'm just  _ saying  _ that maybe I'll learn something useful! Come on, Sokka, pleaaase?" He whined. 

Sokka was invulnerable to the polar puppy eyes. Really, he was. His heart was solid, icy, impenetrable. No amount of wobbly lower lips or teary gazes could sway him...

"Oh, what's the harm?" Katara sighed. "We need to stick around long enough to plan out our next move, anyway. If he wants to go, let him." 

Sokka gaped at her, at the utter betrayal. 

Aang lit up. "Thanks, guys! It'll be worth it! You'll see!" 

\---

That night, Jin Lu bridged the gap between the remote little village and the Fire Palace, bringing Sokka along to see an unusually distressed Zuko apparently in the process of trying to tear all of his hair out by the root. The prince seemed shocked to see him, the tension bleeding out of his posture all at once, slumping to the mattress. 

"Oh, I didn't realize... I must have fallen asleep..." He muttered to himself, chewing at his lips. 

Sokka approached, sitting as near as he could without not-touching, reluctant to trigger the cold, uncomfortable sensation of their spirits meeting. "Hey. What's up?" 

"Nothing. I'm fine. It's just..." Zuko waved a hand, gesturing like he was trying to scoop his scattered thoughts into an organized pile through the motion alone. "I went to go see Uncle. In the prison where they're keeping him. And it's bad. It's tiny and he's miserable and I just want to bust him out of there but if I try it'll ruin everything so I can't."

"I'm sorry... It's kind of my fault he ended up in there. I didn't think Azula would turn on him like that." Sokka apologized, laying his hand on the blanket near Zuko's knee. Symbolic, at best, but maybe the intention would come across.

"No, that's not- I went to go see him, to tell him- I wanted to get him up to speed. So, he knows the Avatar's okay, and he knows about you and your... your dad. Sorry. I just realized maybe you didn't want me to say-" 

"No, that's okay. Ideally, he can help out with the invasion, so he should know, y'know, how much you really know." 

"Okay. I'm still- anyway, I told him what I told you, that I wasn't allowed into the war meetings yet. And I'm not, by the way, I still haven't- but he told me that Dad might have... that he might have some sort of  _ trial _ for me to do, to prove myself. I can't imagine what that might be, and it terrifies me, so if I'm- That's what's going on with me, right now, anyway." 

Sokka felt all of the air escaping him, heaving a huge sigh as he took in the gravity of the situation. If Zuko's father demanded  _ more  _ than he'd already demanded, when he'd already nearly killed him, permanently scarred him, and sent him on an impossible mission... whatever else he might demand was utterly unimaginable. 

"Anyway, that's enough about- that's my problem to deal with. You asked me for some help, remember? And it took me a while to do that, since I've been, you know, dealing with everything else in the meantime, but I was able to find the places you were asking about." 

Zuko stood, crossing the room and dipping his fingers into the desk's drawer. They'd learned long ago that familiar objects in the room could be interacted with, and papers could be read only if Zuko already knew what was on them. Sokka sometimes felt he should be writing down what they learned, the rules of the realm they dreamed in together. Maybe publish their findings in a scientific journal or something. Unfortunately, the nature of the place made it impossible to document reliably, and he couldn't imagine being taken seriously, regardless. 

The scroll Zuko produced contained short, concise notes, in his neat, precise script. They contained place names, short descriptions, and nearby landmarks. 

"It's not much, but I needed to make sure I could remember it well enough for it to, you know, for it to be legible to you." 

Sokka nodded, eyes scanning the notes. He'd have to copy them down the moment he woke up, but he was planning to use the whole next day for scheduling, anyway. He took his time, creating little mnemonics for himself, committing the words to memory. 

Zuko sat beside him, patiently as he could, watching him concentrate. The intense gaze was almost distracting, those gold eyes focussed intently enough to burn where they roamed. Sokka was excruciatingly aware of every flicker of emotion across his face, the movement of his lips as he murmured his mnemonics to himself, wondering what, exactly, it was that Zuko saw right now that made him study him so closely. 

"Thank you. For this. It means- I'll try to make it up to you, you know." He croaked out, clearing his throat only after successfully forcing out the words. 

Zuko nodded, gaze dropping away. "You don't have to. This is me trying to repay... everything, really. I don't want to know how lost I'd be right now without you." 

"O-oh." Sokka stuttered. "Well, still. Thanks." 

He stood, meaning to leave, but a glance back at Zuko, tense as he returned the scroll to its place in the desk, and words sprang to his lips. 

"It's not forever, you know." He promised. "We're on our way there right now. There's still three weeks left before the eclipse, but... whatever happens, there's an end. Okay? Just hang on." 

Zuko nodded, back still turned. 

"We'll see you soon." Sokka assured him. He lingered, expecting a response that wasn't coming. "Be safe." 

"...I'll try." Zuko whispered at last.

\---

Aang was unable to sit still and conform to the emotionless rigidity expected of him, as it turned out, and Sokka and Katara scrambled to turn their disguises into... well, different disguises. Sokka managed to brush enough fur from Appa's arrow markings to make a decent beard, even if the color was a bit off, and Katara stuffed a blanket into her dress, securing it until it was a decent baby shape. 

They were at least convincing enough that the headmaster didn't ask any questions of them, not willing to risk being  _ wrong _ and potentially offending the two of them. Wang and Sapphire Fire assured the man that they would take Kuzon's punishment  _ very  _ seriously, of  _ course _ they would, sir, and they were finally dismissed. 

"So, them being wrong about history, I already knew, and you getting into a fight I can believe, but what's this about dancing?" Sokka asked, fiddling with the scratchy fur of his fake beard. He was beginning to regret the high-strength adhesive he'd chosen for the task. 

"I started dancing in music class, 'cause it's a  _ music  _ class, and they barely even knew what dancing  _ was!  _ I got in trouble for 'disrupting the class'!" Aang complained, clearly quoting the music teacher in a silly voice. 

"That's so strange." Katara acknowledged. 

"Isn't it? I thought so, too!" Aang gestured wildly. "The Fire Nation used to be  _ known  _ for their dances! People all over the world would come here to learn dancing! There were entire festivals and celebrations dedicated to dancing! What happened?!" 

"Fire Lord Sozin happened, probably." Sokka shrugged. "He screwed up everything else." 

"Well, I'm gonna change things." Aang stated decisively. "I've invited my friends from school here for a dance party tonight! I'll teach them the traditional dances that I know, and we'll get them a taste of freedom!" 

"Wait,  _ tonight?!  _ We have so much stuff to hide! We can't let them know you're  _ living _ in this cave, or that you have a  _ sky bison _ , or that any of us are... anything-but-fire benders!" Sokka shrieked, riling Momo up with his flailing hands. The lemur screeched in response, clinging to Aang's shoulders. "And him, too, yes. Thank you, Momo." 

Aang stroked the lemur's ears tenderly, soothing him. "The cave goes deeper in the back and leads to a little field out there. Appa can hide out out back. Toph, Katara, and I can use our bending to turn this place into a dance venue, and no one will ever know it was just a cave before. Plus, once we finish, we won't have to bend the rest of the night!" 

Aang made some good points, and Sokka almost relaxed. "Okay. When are people coming?" 

"I wanted to start the party just after sundown, so the band should start arriving in..." He checked the position of the sun, tilting his head and sticking his tongue out. "Like, and hour or two." 

"What?! That soon?!" Sokka groaned, smacking a hand to his forehead. "That gives us, like, no time to prepare! I don't even have time to get this beard off!" 

Toph cracked her knuckles. "You underestimate us, Princess. It'll take me all of five minutes to get this cave into shape." 

He had no choice but to take her word for it, slumping off to go load their supplies into Appa's new saddle. 

A  _ dance _ party. An  _ impromptu _ dance party. 

This was going to be a  _ long _ night. 

\---

It was the wrong time of year for a picnic on this particular outcropping, the verdant foliage that prospered during winter burning off in the summer heat, but this is where he and Mai had gone for their one real date before he'd been banished, so it was... sentimental. Girls liked that, right? 

He could imagine Sokka calling the idea ridiculous, then insisting they use the wide, flat space for some light sparring. He could always find something practical to do. 

Zuko shook the thought from his head. He was here with Mai, now. It was her he needed to keep happy, her feelings he needed to consider. She didn't seem... well, any  _ more _ grumpy than usual. As always, she kept her feelings close to the chest, refusing to tip her cards or show any weakness. He couldn't even begrudge her this. It was as much a habit as a defense mechanism, keeping her feelings locked down to protect her heart. 

He held... a lot of power here. Could do a lot of damage.  _ Would  _ do, almost certainly. 

She leaned into his side. "Orange is such an awful color." She complained. 

Complaining about the  _ sunset  _ during a picnic date  _ specifically to watch the sunset... _ But, no. She couldn't say what she meant, she meant something else... He wished he understood her better, could guess what she was  _ really  _ getting at. 

"In the Earth Kingdom, the sun sets all kinds of colors. It'll be orange just down where the sun itself is, but the rest of the sky is a whole rainbow of colors. I, uh, I think it has something to do with how hot and humid it is, here." Sokka had explained something science-y about sunsets and cloud cover, when they'd found a hill to watch a beautiful Ba Sing Se sunset together, but it hadn't made much sense to him.

Mai just rolled her eyes. "I know, dumbass. I spent a long time there, remember? Chasing you down?" 

Zuko cleared his throat, uncomfortably. "Oh, right." He scrambled for another topic, maybe telling her about the polar sunsets, how the sun would hover low for months before finally disappearing altogether for the long winter night, but he was absolutely certain Mai would not appreciate the reminder of Zuko's soulmate during what was supposed to be a romantic picnic. 

Mai smiled, a tiny thing, barely enough to twitch her lips and narrow her eyes, but still visible. "I'm glad you decided to come home." She murmured honestly, laying a hand on his chest. "We were worried, you know. That maybe your uncle or that snow peasant had managed to get to you."

"He has a name." Zuko didn't manage to stop himself from snapping. 

Mai drew her hand back, leaning away until they were no longer touching. "Oh, sorry, didn't know I'd touched a nerve." She spat sarcastically. 

"It's… it's fine." He bit out. It wasn't, really. He hated the way everyone seemed to think of Sokka as…  _ subhuman _ . It was infuriating. He wanted to shout and rave and defend him until he was red in the face, but… But this is the way things were. Sokka himself had asked him to come back here, to play his part as best he could. "It's just… even though we're on opposite sides, even though he's standing in our way, he's still important to me, okay? So just… tread lightly." 

Mai rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. We all have to tiptoe around your fragile fucking  _ feelings. _ It's fine." She sighed, sitting back fully, putting enough space between them to comfortably fit another person. "I already know I'm the  _ other woman.  _ You don't have to remind me." 

Damn it, even when he was  _ trying,  _ he still… "That's not what I meant." He tried. 

Mai was unmoved. "Maybe you didn't  _ say  _ it, but your meaning was loud and clear. It's  _ fine,  _ Zuko. Just drop it. You're not helping." 

He fell silent. Anything he said to her made things worse. 

Why was this so hard?! With Sokka, he always seemed to know the right thing to say. Or, at least, Sokka knew how he meant it, even if he said it wrong. 

But that was just it, wasn't it? Everything always circled back to him. All of Zuko's thoughts, every conversation he had, everything always came back to Sokka, no matter how hard he tried not to let that happen.

For him, Sokka was perfect. For every flaw Zuko had, and there were plenty, Sokka was just what he needed to pick up the slack. They were a perfect, spirit-ordained set. No matter the hurdle, and boy, were there hurdles, they could overcome it together. Even their disastrous first meeting- well, first in-person meeting. 

This place, this sunset, this picnic… he knew who he wanted to be sharing it with. 

Unfortunately, so did Mai.

The tension between them, her anger with him, only made him miss Sokka the more. He always knew when Sokka was mad. He wore his expressions boldly and openly. He said what he meant, and he meant what he said. He would detail exactly what he was mad about, when he expected an apology and for what, and never said it was okay until it really was okay. 

Zuko  _ sucked  _ at reading people. He sucked at guessing their true emotions, their true meaning. And Mai just made it harder. On  _ purpose.  _ She didn't  _ want  _ him to know what she was feeling. She just wanted him to be able to guess what she wanted. 

He couldn't. He'd never been able to, and he'd only gotten worse at it as she got better at masking. 

The loneliness and the longing tore at his stomach, wrenching him apart, as he gazed into the sunset and wished things were different. 

A small flame flickered in his stomach. 

_ Sokka.  _

Wherever he was, whatever he was doing, Sokka was feeling the same desperate longing as he was. 

He drew on the fire, dancing soft tongues of flame between his fingers, flickering the long shadows of the sunset. He let the flames' gentle caress warm his hands, remembering the feeling of Sokka's warm, calloused palms slipping into them, heating him inside and out. 

"Good to see you still  _ can  _ firebend, Zuzu." Azula's mocking tone cut through the quiet moment, shocking Zuko out of his contemplative haze and back into the present. The fire vanished, leaving him feeling strangely cold, despite the summer heat. 

"Azula." He greeted coldly. 

"And isn't this supposed to be a romantic picnic? The two of you look like you've been sentenced to death!" Azula continued, not acknowledging his tone. "Really, Zuzu, it's like you  _ want  _ people to realize you're a deviant." 

"Shut  _ up _ , Azula." He warned. 

"You just came at a bad time." Mai calmly stated, amber gaze flicking away from the two of them. She shuffled closer to Zuko, returning to the spot she'd vacated just minutes before. "Just a little lovers' quarrel. We're making up already, see?" 

She pulled Zuko's chin around with two sharp-clawed fingers, pressing her lips to his own. He tried very hard not to appear visibly uncomfortable. 

"Well, that's good to hear. Really, I hate to break you lovebirds up, but..." Azula gazed pointedly at Mai, nodding behind herself, dismissing her. 

Mai sighed, gathering herself up and brushing off her long skirt. "Whatever. I need to get back before curfew, anyway." 

Part of Zuko was relieved to see her go, no longer under obligation to play the doting boyfriend (which he was quickly finding was a role he was terrible at). The rest of him shuddered to see his sister here. Azula never brought good news. 

"So..." She began as Mai finally disappeared down the winding path. "I hear you went to visit our uncle in prison." 

He swore under his breath. "Who told you?" 

A smirk swirled across her face. "You did. Just now." 

He groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Right. I guess that means this is the part where you blackmail me?" 

"Actually, no." Azula sounded strangely... sincere. No mocking tone, no twitch of a smile. "Believe it or not, I'm looking out for you. If people find out you've been to see Uncle, they'll think you're plotting with him." 

He knew that. He was well aware before he even considered going to the tower. Those accusations wouldn't even be off-base. 

Azula's tone turned positively gentle. "Just be careful, dumb-dumb." 

He nodded. "I will. It was... I just needed to go once. For closure." 

She sat beside him, carefully tucking her skirt as she lowered herself, pressing her painted lips together like she wanted to chew them, but the makeup prevented it. He wondered if that very habit was why she'd started wearing it in the first place. It was a habit they'd always shared, after all. 

"I... understand. Despite everything, he was still our uncle. He helped raise us. Even though he was always crazy, and gone a lot, and turned out to be a traitor... I can't help but remember going to Ember Island together, all of us. Mom and Dad and Uncle and Lu Ten... I can't believe he would betray us like that." 

Zuko nodded. Azula... it was so strange to think Azula felt the same way about this as he'd felt about  _ her. _ From her perspective, Dad was right. They owed their loyalty to the Fire Nation first and foremost, and that meant following the Fire Lord's every order, to the letter. She would  _ never _ understand his perspective. He knew, now, that loyalty to the Fire Nation meant doing what was best for its people, for its future prosperity, and that this endless war was not that. 

Azula... even after everything, she still couldn't see that. 

"You don't want to do the same?" He asked. "Visit him for closure, I mean." 

She shook her head. "I don't need to see it. I saw him as he was in the Earth Kingdom already, happily playing as a dirt simpleton. I don't need... I don't want to see him as he is now. I want to remember him at his best, when he was still a proud, loyal general for the Fire Lord. When he was still our uncle." 

Zuko's sentiment mirrored her own, yet again. This glimpse of Azula as she once was, as his little sister, and not just a weapon to be used at their father's whim... he wished this was the image he could hold of her all the time. 

"...I know what you mean." 

And if she assumed he meant Uncle, as well, well, all the better for this charade. 

\---

Sitting by the wall, watching the dance party in full swing, seeing his sister and her soulmate swirl around one another, a combination of Water Tribe traditional dance moves, bending techniques, and freestyling, Sokka slumped, feeling sorry for himself. 

Toph was also playing the wallflower for tonight, but for a very different reason. She didn't  _ want _ to dance, thought it was a silly waste of time, and maybe she was right. 

Sokka  _ wanted _ to waste time, though. Wanted to waste time with Zuko. 

He sighed again, earning a frustrated twitch of the eyebrow from his earthbender companion. 

"I get it! You miss your stupid boyfriend! Shut  _ up _ already!" Toph groaned. 

"Hey, I didn't say anything!" Sokka whined defensively. 

"You keep making all those 'oh, woe is me' noises over there! Quit it!" She snapped. "I'm having enough trouble keeping track of what's going on with all the stomping and the loud music, I don't need you and your pity party over there annoying me all night!" 

"Fine!" He sniffled. "I'll just go feel sorry for myself somewhere  _ else,  _ then!" 

"Ugh!" She turned her face up to the ceiling before leveling a grumpy look in his vague direction. "I  _ meant,  _ stop feeling sorry for yourself! If you want to dance so much, go dance! Have fun! You can stop thinking about him for  _ five fucking minutes,  _ can't you?" 

Oh, she wasn't mad at him. She was worried about him. "Nah, I don't  _ really  _ want to dance. I don't even  _ like  _ dancing. I'm just being stupid. It's alright." 

She shrugged. "If you say so. It seems like Twinkle Toes is having the time of his life, though." 

He had to laugh at that. "Yeah, Aang really seems to be in his element out there." 

Aang and Katara and all of these Fire Nation kids... it had been a long time since he'd heard this much cheering and laughter. It seemed like they really, really needed this. It was something so simple, the kind of thing that might just  _ happen,  _ spur-of-the-moment, back home, but here it was something special, something life-changing. 

Sokka knew that, were Zuko actually here, he'd probably be hanging out right where Sokka was now, refusing to dance, watching the action happen apart from himself. 

He still wanted him here, though. 

He wanted to show him what Aang was doing for these kids, for Zuko's people, bringing life and joy back to a joyless place. He wanted to joke with him about the silly movements of kids just trying out new dances, awkward preteens doing their best to try something new, reminiscing about being that young, themselves. Maybe he'd show Zuko some dances from back home, getting caught up in the euphoria of the thing and forgetting they were meant to be Fire Nation colonials. 

Zuko would laugh at his silly beard he still couldn't take off, teasing him for being short-sighted, for failing to think things through, as though  _ Zuko  _ wasn't the impulsive one, here. 

Toph huffed at him for getting lost in his own head again, but he ignored her. The longing burning in his belly had stoked that elusive inner flame. Zuko missed him, too. 

What was Zuko doing right now? What was he thinking? Was his inner flame still missing, and could he tell that Sokka was feeling this, too? 

He summoned a little shower of sparks at his fingertips, like the sparklers they'd seen at the festival in Ba Sing Se. A gaggle of wide-eyed preteens gathered, a couple attempting to copy the display. One just summoned a full-sized flame, dancing in his hands. Another only summoned embers, spitting out of her fingers and drifting dangerously close to fabric. 

"You need a steady flow of chi." He instructed. "Not too much, not too little. Breathe through it, feel it flowing through your arm." 

The firebending kids tried again, the nonbenders screaming when the girl summoned a ballooning blast from both hands before it settled into embers again. 

"You'll get it! It took me a couple tries when my boyfriend taught me, too." He laughed. 

The kids went silent. The upbeat music continued, in stark contrast to their wide-eyed, shocked expressions. 

Oh, right. He'd forgotten. "I mean, uh, my friend. My friend who is also a guy. Nonromantic." 

The kids hesitated, glancing at one another. 

The firebending girl spoke up first. "Um, will you show us that move again? I think I've almost got it." 

Sokka nodded, reaching for his chi again, but found his gut had gone cold. "Um, no can do, sorry. I, uh... I trained a lot today, so I'm still... tired?" 

The girl seemed disappointed, but several of the other children looked relieved. They dispersed, returning to the dance floor. 

"What was that all about?" Toph whispered to him when they were alone again. 

"Oh, uh, I was able to firebend for a second there. I was showing them how to make sparks." Sokka explained. 

"Not that part. I figured it was something like that. I meant the part where everyone got all scared after you mentioned Zuko." 

"That's... it's illegal here. Guys dating each other. Zuko told me, like, more than once, but... I guess I forgot." 

Toph frowned, opening her mouth as if to make some comment in reply, but they were interrupted by the appearance of the school's headmaster, flanked by two guards, one of whom was... terribly familiar. 

Sokka was suddenly glad he couldn't remove the beard. 

The team barely had time to escape, fleeing their party to join Appa out back. The students acted quickly, covering for the dance party's organizer by tying their own belts like his distinctive headband, and securing their escape. 

Aang's strange power over people was endlessly impressive. Just two days with these kids, most of which was spent in classes, and he'd changed all of their lives, earning strong enough loyalty from them that they stuck their collective neck out for him. Maybe his true strength wasn't elemental, at all. 


	29. The Painted Lady

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kitten update because i keep forgetting: we ended up fostering three kittens total, and as of this week theyre big enough to be adopted!! they went to get spayed today, and theyll go to the adoption center as soon as they recover!! heres hoping they all find awesome, loving forever homes soon!!!

Sokka unfurled the lengthy scroll containing the details of their itinerary. "Okay, so. We have twenty-six days until the Day of Black Sun, as of one hour ago. As the bison flies, we would get to the capitol in roughly... four days. Unfortunately, we can't fly for too many hours in a day, or we'll be tracked pretty easily, and the Fire Lord will know we're coming. Instead, we're going to hop around like this." 

He pulled out the map of the Fire Nation he'd already thoroughly marked, their projected path already traced on top of it. 

"The places I've chosen for our stops are either uninhabited areas with cavern systems, or they're places Jin Lu showed me from the spirit world. There might be some spirit activity in these places we need to solve, there might just be some environmental factors we need to correct... Either way, I've given us three days in each of these places to try to solve the problem. If we solve them more quickly, we leave early. If we take longer than that to solve them, we give up and keep moving. Any questions?" 

Aang raised his hand obediently. 

"Yes, Aang?" Sokka acknowledged. 

"Um, what if it takes us more than three days, but it's, like, really, really important? Like, people are dying, or the spirit world is unraveling, or Appa has an upset tummy, or something?" 

"I don't think that last one counts as an emergency but I'm willing to make compromises if and only if we are already making good time. If we haven't managed to already get ahead of schedule, we have to just let the spirit world unravel." 

Katara raised her hand next. 

"Yes, Katara?" 

"How do you know where these places are on the map? The spirits showed you?" 

Sokka narrowed his eyes at her, frowning deeply. He knew what she was getting at. "Well, sort of. Jin Lu showed me on the way to the Fire Palace, and I asked Zuko to figure out where they are. Is that okay with you, or do you really think he'd send us into a death trap?" 

"I just think maybe we should be a little careful. If he knows where we're going..." 

"Katara, can we  _ not _ do this right now? He's literally working with us to help depose his dad. That's stressful enough without the people he's trying to help also doubting his intentions." 

Katara gave him a long, searching look, but nodded. "Okay. We'll trust his intel." 

"Good, because I already spent a lot of time making this schedule. Now, our first stop is here." He pointed it out on the map. "There's an army factory nearby, a metal refinery of some kind, but the military presence in the surrounding area is weak. Zuko said they built the place kind of out of the way, so they wouldn't bother too many people with the factory's by-products, but we should still keep a lookout." 

"This is one of those three-day stops?" Aang clarified. 

Sokka nodded. "The river there is pretty polluted. We may want to stock up on water beforehand, just in case." 

Katara scanned the map a little while longer, taking note of where the factory was marked and the cave system nearby, seeming dissatisfied with the distance. 

"It's further than it looks, I promise. Plus, it's supposed to be densely forested there." He retrieved both scrolls, rolling them back up and sliding them into his sturdy leather scroll case to keep them safe and uncrumpled. "We should get moving if we want to reach it before dark." 

\---

They settled in a little clearing, surrounded on three sides by tall walls of rock, a lush layer of moss softening the surfaces and brightening the view. The river was only a short walk away, a natural pathway winding from their campsite down to its banks. 

And, boy, was the river polluted. 

"I guess this is what we're here for." Sokka announced, looking out over the thick, murky goop filling the riverbed. 

Toph stuck her finger into the slop, pulling it out coated in a thick layer of what  _ should  _ have been pristine river water. 

She stuck the finger in her mouth, tasting the contents with a contemplative look before spitting it back out. "Ugh! It's not just muddy, either. Whatever they're doing in that factory, there's some real gross stuff being pumped out here." 

"So, no mud baths?" Aang asked, already stripped down and lounging, buoyed by the density of the muck. 

"I wouldn't risk it." Toph shrugged. Aang looked dismayed. 

"Well, I guess we should start trying to clean it up, huh?" Katara mimed like she was rolling up sleeves she wasn't wearing, bracelets jingling as she shook her hands out. "Toph, try to bend the mud out while I bend the water. We might be able to separate them." 

"Can do." Toph stood, cracking her knuckles and neck. 

Sokka sighed, seeing them get down to business. "I guess I'll... go do... something. Back at camp." 

"Uh huh. You do that." Katara agreed absentmindedly. 

"Maybe find some firewood, or boil some water for drinking. You know, important stuff." He continued. 

The massive pile of muck Toph was building only grew, the water beginning to run slightly clearer downstream. 

"Sounds great, Sokka." Katara agreed again, automatically. 

"Y'know, since I'm an integral member of the team and all. You all would be lost without me." 

Aang, having cleaned himself off, worked behind Toph, hardening the muck into solid rock, keeping it from sliding back into the water. 

"Uh huh. Sure thing, Sokka." 

Katara's canned responses digging into his nerves, Sokka stomped away, returning to camp. He flopped on a soft bed of moss in a huff, glaring up into the clear blue sky above him. The riverbank was so close, he could still clearly hear the tell-tale sounds of nearby bending as the rest of the team worked to unpollute the river. 

He felt so  _ useless _ ! Maybe, with the right supplies and enough time, he could come up with some way to mechanize the filtration, but as it stood, he was the  _ only  _ one without fancy magical powers and the  _ only  _ one who couldn't help. 

The only  _ special  _ thing about him happened while he was  _ asleep. _

Bitter jealousy flaring in his chest, he did what he did  _ best _ , and took a damn  _ nap.  _

\---

His dreams were... scattered, somehow vivid and yet unclear, images dancing in sharp focus yet failing to collect into something comprehensible. He awoke, groggy, as the others filed back into camp, looking defeated. 

"We've been working for hours now, and we don't seem to be making even a dent." Katara complained. Where her hand swept, gesturing broadly in her irritation, a subtle glow trailed, as though something ethereal was lagging just behind her movements. "It seems like that factory is mucking things up at least as fast as we can clean up after it." 

Sokka shook his head, rubbing his eyes. "Well, if there's nothing we can do, then that's that, isn't it?" 

"Not quite... There's this village nearby. We saw a boat go past and that's how we noticed it." Aang explained. A fuzzy creature, as long as Aang was tall, with countless padded feet, curled around the Avatar's body. "The river being like this can't be good for them. I think we need to go help them out." 

"Aang, you've got-" Sokka had blinked, and the creature had disappeared. "...Nevermind. You said you saw a boat? Did the people on the boat see you guys bending?" 

"We were taking a break when Twinkle Toes pointed them out, so I doubt it." Toph shrugged. As her head moved, he saw a brilliant white light flicker in front of her eyes for just a moment, gone as suddenly as it appeared. 

"...Right." He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to shake off the last of the sleep from his brain. He must be dreaming while awake or something. 

"Do you want to come with us? You look like you're not feeling well." Katara worried, placing a gentle hand on his upper arm. He focussed on the sensation, centering himself. 

"Yeah, I'm, uh... I think I woke up on the wrong side of the moss pile." He joked. "It's just... it's nothing to worry about, I think it'll go away in a minute." 

That didn't settle her worries, judging by her expression, but she nodded. "Okay. If you say so. There's a little dock down the way, we'll try to cross there." 

Sokka kept close to the others as they made the short trip, finding himself still...  _ seeing  _ things as they went. He tripped and fell into Toph at some point, stumbling when the ground appeared to disappear out from underneath him, but return the moment he got his bearings. 

This was... okay, this was really strange. 

He tried to ignore the phenomenon, sure he was just hallucinating due to stress, or sleep deprivation, or the fumes from the river, and to  _ not  _ react to every strange animal or impossible landscape. Especially not the blue reptile with the weird, swiveling eyes clinging to his arm, slowly making its way up to his shoulder with painstaking movements of its two-toed hands. 

They were greeted at the dock by the aptly-named Doc, who offered them passage to the floating town cheerfully. Toph clung to his arm for guidance as they departed the solid earth, and he was grateful for it, the familiar grip making it easier to tell what was real and what was hallucinations. The old man strained with the oar, paddling heavily against the thick muck. Seemed like Katara's words rang true, and that their hours of work had been wasted. 

"Here we are!" Doc announced proudly as the little boat bumped the boards of the town's main pier. "If you need to pick up any supplies while you're here, my brother runs the shop in the center of town! I can get him to give you kids a discount!" 

"Thank you, Doc." Katara smiled sweetly, giving him a shallow bow. 

"Yeah, we appreciate the offer, and the ride." Aang grinned, bowing as well. 

The man waved, but also bowed, and left, but twice. Sokka rubbed his eyes again. 

"You sure you're okay?" Katara asked. "If you have a headache or something, I might be able to heal it." 

He shook his head. "I appreciate the offer, but... I'll explain later. Let's just do what we need to do and get out of here."

A quick tour through town and they immediately realized they were in over their heads. Everyone was sick, and starving, and it was all due to the presence of the military factory. Sokka taught a few people how to make the swamp benders' water filtration mechanism, and Katara retrieved the few herbs from the shore that she could reliably identify, but it wasn't nearly enough. 

"We just won't be able to do this in the three day time limit. I'm sorry, guys, but we should move on." Sokka declared. 

"You're really giving up that quickly?" Katara frowned, pausing her work with the borrowed mortar and pestle to glare at him fully. 

"After we take out the Fire Lord, Zuko will be able to decommission the factory. That'll help all these people." Sokka insisted. 

"Keep quiet when you talk about that stuff!" Toph hissed, pinching the skin on the inside of his bicep roughly. 

"Yowch! Okay, okay!" Sokka pouted, rubbing at the pained skin. 

"That won't be for another whole month, and then how long will it take for the factory to actually shut down? And how long for the river to clean itself out after there's no more pollution pumping into it? These people are dying, Sokka, they can't wait that long!" Katara emphasized her words with harsh taps of her pestle, the ground herbs in the mortar jumping with the movement. 

"I already made this point very clear!" Sokka snapped back. "I won't budge from the schedule unless we're  _ already _ ahead of time. And, in case you didn't notice, this is our  _ first stop,  _ Katara! There are a lot of people dying in a lot of different places, and we can't help all of them!" As he shouted, his headache worsened, the scenery shifting more and more rapidly, until he was nauseous with it. The sky slipped from blue to orange to purple, then back again, the wooden slats beneath them disappeared and reappeared, horrifying creatures ranging from enormous to tiny skittered about, and he could barely focus on his sister, glaring at him while glowing with a strange pale light. 

"How can you be so heartless, Sokka?" Katara accused, furious, glowing. 

"I'm just trying to be realistic, okay? If we bank on the sure thing, even if it's slower, then it's more likely these people will actually see real, lasting change! As it is, it'll just make things worse for them when we inevitably have to leave in a couple days." 

A memory of Zuko, tense, curled into his knees, voice cracking as he told Sokka that the  _ hoping  _ was worse, that it made the endless, inescapable, awful things so much harder, sprang to mind. Had that really only been a few days ago? Guilt ate at him for leaving Zuko in that situation,  _ again.  _

Just like he was insisting they do to these people. 

"If we give them hope only to leave them without any  _ lasting  _ change, it'll just make things worse, Katara. Better to stick with things like this, the little things that they can keep doing, than to pull some  _ stunt  _ like you clearly want to do. Let it go." 

Katara watched him a minute longer, digesting his words. Finally, her glare broke, that eerie light dimming along with it. "Okay. We'll keep moving. We should focus on the people we  _ can  _ help, rather than the people we can't." 

Sokka sighed in relief, glad he'd gotten through to her. "Hey, it's not like I like this, either. It's just… it's better this way." 

She huffed. "I already agreed. Don't make me take it back." 

He held his hands up, showing he was conceding. 

"Let's just get back to camp. Oh, and we should buy some food while we're here, too." Aang suggested. 

\---

The shopkeeper had been the dockworker, despite his claims about having a brother, and Sokka wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, that nauseating layered effect following the man like a shadow, or a ghost. 

He bent to grab a tray, while he turned to swat some flies. It was as though there were two of him, occupying the same space. Maybe this had something to do with why he acted so strangely, or maybe his weird behavior was feeding into Sokka's hallucinations. 

He'd accepted the fish from Shu, and hurried away. 

Before retreating to their camp, though, Katara had already given away one of their meager, diseased fish, to a scarred child with an ill relative. 

The horribly sick woman had a shimmering, iridescent, snarling beast seated firmly on her chest, drooling from its widely-grinning, sharp-toothed mouth onto her face. 

"I had to give it to them, Sokka, they need it more than we do." Katara explained, but her voice sounded distant with the blood rushing through his ears. "Sokka? Sokka, come on, we still have the two fish, right? We can make do with that much." 

The creature didn't go away when he blinked. It didn't go away when he rubbed his eyes. The sky shifted to purple and stayed there. 

The pier disappeared, and Sokka felt himself falling.

\---

When he opened his eyes again, the world was as normal, for the most part. He'd been brought back to their camp, set gently in his own warm sleeping bag, a crackling fire burning cheerfully nearby. 

Appa lowed when he noticed him stirring, calling Momo to land heavily on his chest. 

"Hey, buddy. How's it hanging?" He asked the lemur, stroking his soft ears. 

He swore he heard the chuckle of an old man, but the lemur  _ looked  _ perfectly normal. 

"Oh, thank goodness you're up. I was so worried about you!" Katara flung herself across him, squeezing him into a tight hug and startling Momo into fleeing again. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened?" He asked, idly petting her thick hair. 

"You just collapsed out of nowhere." Toph's voice accused.

"Yeah, it looked like you saw a ghost." Aang frowned. 

Sokka looked around at their concerned faces and regretted pushing himself so hard earlier. "Yeah, I, uh… since I woke up from my nap, I've been seeing things. I think the river muck is bad for my health." 

Aang tilted his head. "Things? What kind of things?" 

"None of the rest of us are seeing anything." Katara claimed, worry clear in her tone. "And we spent more time in the river than you."

"Oh." He'd been hoping that wasn't the case. "Y'know, just seeing, like, weird animals, and the sky was the wrong color, stuff like that." 

"Sokka… you were seeing the spirit world? While you were awake?" Aang asked hesitantly. 

He flinched. "I hope not." 

"Wan Shi Tong did say you didn't fit in your body right, and you pointed this place out as something that was bothering your spirit buddy, so maybe… maybe the bad spirit mojo is knocking you loose? Or something?" Aang tapped his chin like that wasn't a totally horrifying thought. 

"You think my spirit is  _ slipping out of my body?!"  _ Sokka shrieked. "And you're being all  _ casual  _ about it?!"

"Sokka, come on. Is it really that big a deal?" Katara chastised. 

"Yeah, Sokka. We'll leave tomorrow like you wanted, and we'll be careful about approaching the rest of these places. No harm done!" Aang agreed. 

Sokka thought of all the weird phenomena he'd already been privy to, the weird double vision on Doc/Shu, the glow trailing Katara, the monster crushing the sickly woman, and was inclined to disagree. "I just think maybe we should be as worried about this as it is dangerous, you know? I could  _ die,  _ right? My body can't be… spirit-less forever!" 

"You're right, Sokka, and we'll treat it with the gravity it deserves  _ if,"  _ Katara emphasised the word with a finger pointed at his face, " _ If  _ that actually happens. Now, go to sleep. You clearly need it." 

"Yes,  _ Mom. _ " Sokka grumbled, retreating back into the sleeping bag. 

Katara bristled, as expected, and Sokka dropped the topic, satisfied.

\---

Sokka awoke to an empty campsite, as though everyone had packed up and left him behind in the middle of the night. The familiar sensation of  _ wrongness,  _ like the world had shifted just enough to be unfamiliar, told him exactly where he was. 

His heart leapt with anticipation. It was like a trained response, like salivating at the tone of a bell, and he spun on his heel, expecting to see Jin Lu standing there, as always. 

There was nothing, and no one. 

The sky had turned that same shade of purple, and the landscape had warped, like he'd seen in flashes earlier. 

Hesitantly, he turned back around. 

The campsite had returned, in a way. There was a small, crackling fire, and a dozing Appa, as expected, but Aang's tattoos glowed with that strange blue light where he rested, and an unfamiliar woman, her pale skin traced with swirling designs of brilliant red paint, knelt beside him. She glowed with pale light, familiar in a way he couldn't quite put his finger on, as she fondly regarded the Avatar. 

"Um, excuse me, miss?" Sokka called out to her hesitantly. 

She looked up, startled, but quickly relaxed. "Oh, it's you." She smiled, a tiny thing, her golden eyes narrowing minutely beneath her wide straw hat. "Thank you, for what you and your friends tried to do. I am the spirit of this river, and I do what I can to protect its people, but as my waters have grown murky, my power has diminished."

"Oh, um, I'm sorry we couldn't do more, then." Sokka scratched through the short hair growing in on the back of his head awkwardly. 

"Am I correct in guessing our mutual friend sent you here?" She asked, amusement clear in her tone. 

"You mean Jin Lu?" He clarified, and she nodded. "Where is he?" 

She looked troubled, the expression wrinkling her elegant features. "He is… not well, I'm afraid. The disturbance to my river has only sapped me of my strength, but for him…" She trailed off, reluctant to say more. 

"Oh." This was awkward. Had she heard him arguing for them to abandon this place? He hoped not. "Well, if he's not around, what am I doing here?" 

She glanced at his feet, pursing her lips in lieu of speaking. He looked down, following her gaze, and saw his own body, sleeping soundly in his sleeping bag. 

"What?!" He'd never seen his own body here before! When he'd gotten near, he always returned to it, waking up as he did so. Experimentally, he reached out for his own shoulder, a deeply unsettling action, and found his hand passed through without sensation, as though his body were nothing more than an illusion. 

"You are not here under the Jin Lu's power." The spirit woman explained. 

"Yeah, I kinda got that." The panic crept into his voice without his permission. So, he'd actually slipped into the spirit world? Like, by accident? 

_ Take care, boy, lest your spirit forget how to return.  _ That's what the owl had said. 

He was going to  _ kill  _ Katara! ...That is, if he ever figured out how to get back to the real world. 

"So, uh... How can I, you know... Get back in?" He asked, hoping the spirit would have some answers for him. 

"If I were at my full strength, I would be able to send you back myself, but..." 

"But the river muck, right." Sokka chewed his nails, thinking. "So, if we fix the river, you could help, but I have no way of telling the others that. Any other ideas?" 

She nodded. "The Jin Lu should also be able to help you, as he always does, but that also poses a problem." 

"You did say something like that, didn't you... what did you mean, he's 'not well'?" 

She seemed hesitant, looking at him like she wasn't sure how much to say. "I'm certain you'll see soon enough." Her eyes flicked to something over his shoulder, a sad look pinching them. 

From behind him, a familiar huffing noise shattered the still air, making him jump with surprise. He spun, catching the deer spirit in question tamping his many hooves and lowering his huge head before he had time to charge. 

Sokka dove out of the way, dodging Jin Lu's rampage, heart pounding in his chest. The spirit was huge, had always been huge, and that halo of antlers was looking far more dangerous than he'd ever realized. There was no time for him to be confused, to dwell on the sense of betrayal casting a squall over his heart. He had to get out of here, and quickly. 

He raced off, the spirit of the woman shouting at Jin Lu to calm himself, desperately, her voice fading as he put distance between them far more quickly than should have been possible. Suddenly, as though he'd raced with the wind itself, he was far enough away that the campsite was invisible. 

He caught his breath, tucking himself carefully between a few dense shrubs, willing himself to calm down so he could think. 

'Not well' had been an understatement, apparently. What she had really meant was 'Jin Lu has gone totally nuts'! There went option two for saving his hide... 

He hoped against hope that Aang would come up with something, and quick.

\---

Katara held her breath as she snuck back into camp just after dawn. She'd meant to be back more quickly, intending to beat Sokka waking up, something that was a difficult feat to pull off lately. He'd become very punctual since they left home, waking up at the first light of the day with startling regularity, and it had actually been as helpful for their journey as it had been weird for her. Unfortunately, sneaking into the factory had been more difficult than expected, the place absolutely crawling with soldiers, and the food stores hadn't been terribly easy to find, either. The food had been delivered under cover of night, but just barely, and she'd only just made it to shore when the sky began to lighten. 

Now, the first orange rays of sunlight spilled over the horizon, and she was barely making it back to her sleeping bag. 

It turned out she didn't need to worry, though, as Sokka was still soundly asleep. 

She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing her stealth mission had gone off without a hitch, and laid down to await everyone else's awakening. 

Roughly an hour later, the rock walls of Toph's stone tent crumbled back into the earth, revealing a bedraggled urchin, stretching her short limbs out in the cool morning breeze. 

"Oh, you're already awake." Toph commented, surprised. 

Katara faked a yawn. "Yeah, I woke up a few minutes ago. I can't believe Sokka's not up, yet. I expected him to be loading Appa already."

Toph tilted her head, considering something carefully before speaking up. "Snoozles is... I think he's doing his dream thing. His heart rate and breathing are always, like... unnaturally steady when he does." 

Katara frowned. "I guess Zuko sleeps in, then?" 

Toph shrugged. 

"Well, it's up to the two of us to get things together, then. I'll start on breakfast, if you'll-" Katara trailed off, realizing Toph had wandered off. The telltale sound of crashing rocks nearby gave away what she'd left to do. "...Nevermind, then." 

With steady hands, she carefully prepared what little food they had with them into a semblance of a proper meal, knowing they'd need to resupply between here and the next stop. Aang awoke only when the food was nearly finished cooking, floating along as he followed the scent of breakfast all the way to the campfire.

"That smells great, Katara! What are we having?" He asked, peering into the pot simmering cheerfully over the crackling fire. 

"Just rice and the last of the tangelos from the last town. Sorry, it isn't much." She'd also cooked the second fish from last night, carefully splitting it into three meager portions, but she tended to leave off descriptions of meat, for Aang's sake. 

"I think it'll be really yummy!" Aang assured her. "Hey, is Sokka still asleep? I thought we were leaving today?" 

She glanced over to where her brother still rested, the sun now fairly high in the sky. "Toph said she thinks he's doing one of his spirit journeys." 

Aang tilted his head, taking a long look at the sleeping boy. "Yeah, he feels... less Sokka than usual. It's a little late in the day, though, isn't it?" 

Katara shrugged. "We thought maybe Zuko's just a late sleeper." 

Aang froze at that, still staring at Sokka sleeping, his expression bleeding into concern. "But Katara, Zuko's a firebender." He argued, like that explained something. 

"What do you mean?" She asked. 

"They don't usually sleep in all that late. Firebenders get their power from the sun, so they have to be really, really tired to sleep in after sunrise. And this late in the morning..." 

She understood. "You think something's wrong?" 

Aang shook his head. "I don't want to jump to any conclusions. Maybe they just have a lot to talk about, or maybe he had a big day yesterday. And, y'know, with time zones and all, it's still earlier in the day for Zuko at the Fire Palace, so it's possible..." 

"But Sokka should be back by now." Katara finished. 

Aang nodded, reluctantly. "He should be."

"Plus all that weird stuff happening to him yesterday..." She trailed off. Aang's troubled expression matched her own feelings on the subject. "Ugh, I should have listened to him! I thought he was just being paranoid, but he  _ said  _ something was wrong and now something is  _ definitely  _ wrong!" 

"No, no, we don't know for sure! Let's just wait around, and see what happens! Maybe he'll wake up later, just fine!" 

Aang's desperate optimism only made her feel nauseous. "Okay, we'll wait. We'll need to go back into town for more food at some point, though. We won't make it another night without more supplies." 

"I'll go get Toph and let her know. Plus, breakfast's ready, right?" 

She fluffed the rice with a spoon, confirming the consistency. "Please do." 

\---

It wasn't long before Sokka was thoroughly lost. The river flowed in roughly the same direction as in the real world, and its waters flowed inky and dark. However, he had no way of knowing if that was the influence of the pollution, or if the water was always like that, here. Was he even on the correct side of the factory? What could he even do if he  _ did  _ find his way back to camp? He still didn't know how to return to his body! 

An eerie cry rang out nearby, too close for comfort, and he scrambled away, keeping wide eyes out. It was so hard to tell friend from foe, here, to tell what wanted to hurt him and what would leave him be. He wished he'd paid more attention to Gran-Gran's spirit tales, wished he could remember the friendly spirits from them. Would they even be the same, here? They were still so far from home...

The tree he was hiding behind wriggled and warped, and he dived away just as the branches leaned down to grasp at him. 

Great! Couldn't even trust the  _ plants _ here! 

He scrambled back, crawling blindly away, mindlessly putting distance between himself and the offending plant, when he was suddenly swarmed by a flock of small, fuzzy...  _ somethings.  _ The tall ears of a jackalope, the fuzzy fur of a fox-seal, the wings of a butterfly-toad. They hopped and fluttered around him, climbing on his limbs, investigating his hair. He froze, stock-still, waiting to feel them bite, or scratch, or gang up to smother him, or...

They settled, curling up on and around him, seeming to accept his presence and relax into it. 

He let out a heavy breath, lightheaded with how long he'd held it. They weren't going to eat him. 

There was still the possibility that they were poisonous or something, though. He couldn't rule that out. Still, with so much of the area littered with more immediate, obvious danger... well, what could a moment of peace hurt. 

\---

Shu didn't have much food to spare, only a couple of mutated fish and a dozen muck-filled mollusks, so Katara purchased the one remaining single-headed fish and returned to camp. Rumors had spread overnight that food had been delivered by a spirit, the Painted Lady. 

Well, if they wanted the spirit to have helped them, perhaps she could be more...  _ daring.  _

Sokka still hadn't woken up, and Aang's boundless optimism was even running out. They were trapped for another night. Her brother would hate her for this, but... it seemed like the spirits were giving her some kind of sign. Like they wanted her to stay, to help as much as she could. Sokka had tried to stop her, and now he was unable to... didn't it make sense? 

She stole into the factory again, locating the medical supplies. Her waterbending could heal a lot of things, but some things needed some good, old-fashioned remedies. 

Disguised as the spirit of the river, she administered cures and bent water, healing the sick and injured as best she could. The magical glow woke up one small child, who looked ecstatic to see her, working what appeared to be spiritual magic. 

She held a finger to her lips, smiling conspiratorially, and moved on. 

\---

Sokka had to abandon his little patch of respite eventually, the heavy footsteps of an enormous wolf coming too close for comfort. He'd made his way along the riverbanks, trying to find where the water changed,  _ if  _ the water changed, when he stumbled across the approximate location where the town should be in the real world. 

The piers weren't there, or the houses, or the people, but there was a congregation of spirits in the river, running around as though the inky water was a solid surface. 

Tentatively, he poked his foot into the water. 

Sure enough, it sank beneath the surface, his foot disappearing completely beneath the opaque surface. He stepped closer, taking note of the depth as he went, making careful steps so as to avoid stepping on anything unseen. Shockingly, the water didn't get much deeper than chest-deep, and the current was gentle enough that he was able to walk in a relatively straight line with ease. 

Those fuzzy, flying spirits flitted about here, as well, along with a number of other strange, yet gentle creatures. They all seemed to be... playing, for lack of a better word. The townsfolk had been so miserable when he'd been here in the real world, but the energy here was downright lively. 

The spirit woman walked through the commotion with steady steps, the bright crimson paint on her arms drawing attention to her as she went. The playful creatures threaded between her legs, tugged at her clothing, raced ahead of her as she walked. They seemed drawn to her, in a way, as though she was a gentle matriarch and they were her devoted subjects. 

She strode up to a congregation of several snarling spirits, like the one he'd seen crushing that woman's chest. They appeared... cornered, maybe? Like they were making a final, terrified stand. She waved a hand, and they fled, scampering off to shore, right past Sokka without a second glance. 

She saw him standing there, mostly submerged in the inky waters, and smiled kindly at him. 

\---

The next evening, Sokka still hadn't awoken. It had been two solid days now. He'd  _ never _ been gone this long before. Even when he was trapped physically in the spirit world, he had still returned in twenty-four hours. 

At this rate, his body would starve without him. 

"What can we do, though?" Katara asked, brushing his hair out of his face. He'd pulled it loose to sleep, and it had been hanging around his face the whole time he was... missing. 

Aang had become more and more fidgety as the hours stretched on, now chewing his lips raw and drumming his fingers on his folded legs. "I don't know... there's gotta be  _ something,  _ though, right?" 

"The Avatar's supposed to be the bridge between worlds, right?" Toph offered. "So, maybe you have to... be a bridge." 

"What's that mean, though?" Aang asked, brow furrowed. 

She shrugged. "I don't know. Shouldn't you?" 

He slumped. "It's not like I've got some kind of Avatar manual, you know. I'm always just... guessing." 

"Your guesses are always really good, though!" Katara tried, optimistically. "Even when you're not sure what you're doing at first, you always figure it out!" 

"I...  _ guess  _ so." Aang allowed. 

"How about you meditate on it? You usually figure out what you need to do after meditating, right?" She continued. 

"If you think that'll work..." He fidgeted. 

"I'm sure it will!" She put on a cheerful smile, trying her best to boost his confidence. 

He nodded, lowering his folded legs into his usual position. He breathed deeply, centering himself. "Wish me luck." 

"Good luck." She replied. 

Time dragged on as he breathed slowly, nothing much happening until, finally, his tattoos lit up. 

\---

Sokka estimated the distance from the group of spirits, assuming it mirrored the real-world location of the town, back to the camp. It had taken them upwards of an hour to get from here to there, but his sense of time was awful at the best of times, minutes always seeming to stretch into hours for him, or disappearing in the blink of an eye. 

It...  _ felt  _ like the right distance, though. Based on nothing more than gut instinct, of course. Still, he couldn't seem to quite find the campsite they'd chosen. It had a parallel here, didn't it? He'd seen it when he'd first arrived. 

Maybe he'd chosen an even more well-hidden spot than he'd originally thought. That was a comforting thought. That would mean the others were relatively safe, even with him having been missing for... some time, now. 

A familiar blue glowing caught his attention, drawing him just... west? Just west of where he currently stood. There was a short rise in the rocky formations, a curving path leading between cliffs. Yes! The camp!

Seated near the center of the clearing, Aang sat, tattoos aglow. 

"Hey, buddy!" Sokka called with excitement, overjoyed with the prospect of being rescued. 

"Sokka?" Aang asked, peeking open one glowing, blue eye. "I don't see you. Are you nearby?" 

Sokka approached him, crouching down to eye level. "Yeah, I'm right in front of you."

Aang's expression screwed up. "You really are stuck in the spirit world, then." He sounded defeated. 

"Yeah... but, I talked to a spirit lady, and she told me how to get back to you guys! Well, she told me what needs to happen for that to happen." Sokka sat, curling his legs under himself comfortably. 

"Oh, really? What is it?" Aang sounded more optimistic than Sokka felt. 

"You guys have to clean up the river. Properly, this time. I know I told you guys it was too dangerous, that it would take too long, but..." 

"We gotta do it fast, then! You've been gone for two days already!" Aang worried, fingers fidgeting a bit. 

"Two days?! That long?!" Sokka couldn't believe it. It'd felt like a long time, sure, but  _ days? _

"We couldn't even make a dent after hours of work! How are we supposed to clean it fast enough to get you back?!" 

Aang was beginning to panic. Bad sign. Think, Sokka, think! 

"...The factory." He concluded. 

Aang made an inquisitive noise. 

"You've got to target the source. You have to shut down the factory." Sokka explained. 

"What?! But that'd take too long! You heard Katara, it'd take months and months!" 

"Yeah, if you did it  _ safely  _ and  _ legally. _ I can't believe I'm actually encouraging this but... I think you guys are gonna have to do some property damage." 

Sokka immediately regretted his words, judging by the way Aang perked up at the notion. "Okay, it's a plan! Thanks, Sokka!" 

"Don't do anything reckless! If I find out any of you were injured, or taken captive, or-" 

But the Avatar had disappeared, returning to the real world to incite violence among their friend group. 

Oh, boy. 

\---

The three conscious members of the team levelled the factory under cover of night in a matter of minutes. Toph's metalbending wreaked major havoc, uprooting structures and sending them crashing down, away from the flow of the river. 

The muck still flowed thickly in the riverbed, though, and the uninjured soldiers sought revenge. 

For the third time, their guardian spirit, the Painted Lady, came to the villagers' aid.

However, this time was... different than the others. 

The first time, it was a misunderstanding. 

The second, it was a disguise. 

The third, shocking everyone, it was the spirit herself, in the flesh. 

Well, in a manner of speaking. 

The soldiers fled, too terrified to remain, and the people rejoiced. Her beloved people safe, the Lady left, returning to the spirit world, leaving the unconscious body of a teenage boy behind. 

"Sokka!" Katara shouted, catching him before he collapsed to the pier. 

"Sokka?! That was him?!" Toph asked, clinging to Aang's arm as she gingerly stepped along the wooden slats. "It didn't sound like him at all, though!" 

"I think he was possessed..." Aang pointed out, frowning with concern. 

"Oh, come on, Sokka, wake up..." Katara murmured, shaking him gently. 

"It's no use, Katara. He's still not back." Aang chewed his lip, the skin there raw from how often he'd done so in the past days. 

"What's going on? Why was your friend the Lady...?" Doc asked, scratching his hair beneath the distinguishing cap. 

"It's a long story. Will you all... we need your help." Katara set Sokka down gently, drawing up to her full height. 

"Are you sure about this?" Aang whispered, none too subtly. 

"Yes." She replied, voice steady with certainty. "My friends and I want to clean the river, in order to save my brother's life, but we can't do it alone. We need all of your help to do it." 

"What can  _ we  _ do, though? The river will clean itself out, with time! How much can we really do to help?" 

"I, uh..." Katara glanced nervously at her companions. If Sokka were awake, he'd be shushing her wildly. 

But, if Sokka were awake, they wouldn't be in a time crunch. 

"We don't have time to wait for that. His spirit's trapped in the spirit world, and he can only be in there for a matter of days." Aang assisted. 

"Exactly." Katara sighed, steeling herself. "I'm... I'm a waterbender." 

Gasps and murmurs rang through the crowd, the din growing loud. Suspicious looks were thrown their way, accompanied by offensive mutterings, although some of the glances were merely curious. 

"I don't know what... preconceived notions you have about my people, but I can help clean the river quickly. My friends are earthbenders," She added this with a pointed glance towards Aang, who nodded imperceptibly, "So, between us, we'll be able to pull the pollution from the river. Do we have your cooperation?" 

Several of the angier faces in the crowd hissed out rejections, but Doc merely hummed, looking them over. "Well, if the Painted Lady likes your friend, there, you guys can't be all that bad. Not to mention, you've all been around for days now, and no babies have gone missing." 

"...Babies...?" Katara glanced at Aang, a bewildered look in her eyes. He shrugged. 

"Come on, everyone! Let's help them out! It's for our river, after all!" 

Katara let out one of the heaviest sighs of relief of her life. They'd agreed. 

"Let me get my brother, Bushi! He's the neat freak of the family, he'd be thrilled to help out, too!" Doc grinned, swapping out his hat, as usual. 

Aang spluttered, pointing an accusing finger at him. Katara waved him down. 

"Not now, Aang. If he wants to wear a different hat for this, let him." 

'Bushi' rounded up people and supplies with surprising efficiency, considering the man in question was arguably insane. Without the factory continuously making things worse for them, the river cleaning process went far better this time, the water running almost perfectly clear by the time the sun drooped on the horizon. 

With the descent of the sun, Sokka finally stirred, startling Momo off of his stomach and into the air. Drawn by the commotion, Aang rushed over, face splitting into a wide grin, waving the girls over. 

"Sokka! You're up!" He cheered. 

Sokka groaned, looking nauseous. "Uh, hey, Aang." 

"How are you feeling?" Katara asked kindly as she approached.

"Bad." He whined. "Like I haven't eaten in a week." 

"It's only been three days." Toph informed him. 

"Great. That makes it so much better. Thanks for putting things into perspective, Toph." He rubbed his head. "I've also got a massive headache, but I think that's because of the first thing."

"Let's get you some food and water, then. Come on, stand up." 

Sokka had to lean heavily on his sister to make it upright, weak from his extended absence from the physical plane. Aang went to his other side immediately, supporting him more evenly. 

"Thanks, guys. It's been a hell of a few days for me, let me tell you." 

"Oh, I bet. It's been pretty eventful here, too." Katara laughed. "Have you heard of the Painted Lady?" 


	30. Sokka's Master

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wiggling some things around bc theres gonna be some Proper Canon Divergence and things need to Happen a lil earlier for dear zuzu  
> pls enjoy!!

At long last, after a week of terrified anticipation, Zuko was called before the Fire Lord. 

He entered the audience chamber with hesitant steps, hands shaking, gaze to the floor. He approached as far as he was able, finding his legs too weak to force himself further, and knelt. 

His father cleared his throat. He had stopped too far away, forcing the Fire Lord to strain his voice to be heard. This would be seen as a sign of disrespect, it would warrant a reprimand, he would-

"Prince Zuko, you may approach." 

Weakly, certain his shaking was visible from the throne by now, he forced himself a few steps further. His throat was dry, his stomach churning. 

Close enough to feel the heat of the flames surrounding the throne, he knelt again. 

"That's better." His father's voice lilted with amusement. "Now, I called you here today because I have something very important to discuss with you. You know that before your... travels, your bending left much to be desired." 

Zuko swallowed. "Yes, Father." 

"However, knowing you were able to best the Avatar himself, and while he was in the Avatar State at that, I know with certainty your talents have improved immeasurably." 

There was a long pause before Zuko realised he was intended to respond. "Um, yes. I have been keeping up with my training, as best I can, and I have learned much from... practical application." 

"Excellent." There was a rustle of fabric as the Fire Lord adjusted in his throne. "I have prepared a... showcase of sorts for you. Tomorrow evening, many of our friends among the nobility, along with several of the most highly-regarded firebending masters in the nation, will be coming to feast with us. They are most excited to see the power that felled the Avatar, you see, and you will be able to show them how you've grown, to erase the humiliation of your past failures. It's an auspicious event, wouldn't you say?" 

It felt as though his lungs had collapsed in on themselves, choking him from within. "Y-yes. Um, thank you, Father. I appreciate the opportunity." 

"Good, good. I expect you to be presentable come the evening, and to be at your very best. You will not be expected to partake in any of your other duties for the day. Dismissed." 

Zuko bowed, forehead touching the floor, before rising to rush out of the room. 

A showcase! With an audience uniquely qualified to judge him! Was his father really putting that much faith in his abilities, or did he just want yet another excuse to humiliate him publicly? Perhaps revealing that he could not bend, could not have committed the deed Azula attributed to him, in front of the most important people in the nation, perhaps that would be all the excuse the Fire Lord needed to banish him on a more permanent basis. 

Or worse. Perhaps, for lying about the defeat of the Avatar, he would simply be executed. 

He fled to his bedroom, slamming the door and all but collapsing against it. There, along the wall, a gaudy cabinet stood, full of Earth Kingdom curios, carefully displayed and dusted daily by the servants. 

His heart tugged.

Would he even get the chance to see Sokka again before then? It would have to be tonight, if the showcase was tomorrow. Maybe the Fire Lord would stay his punishment long enough for the eclipse to come and go, and he would even be rescued from his fate. 

Unlikely, impossible even, but he had to hope. 

A knocking came through the door he was leaning on. "Your Highness, the princess is here to speak with you." 

Azula loved to be announced before she entered, revelling in the pomp her station afforded her. It likely also tickled her to induce a mounting anxiety in whoever she was dropping in on. 

Zuko grit his teeth, straightening his robes and calling for the guard to open the door. 

Azula's boots tapped their way into the room with slow, measured steps. She lowered herself into his couch as though these were her own quarters, crossing her legs almost daintily as she leered up at him. 

"What do you want, Azula?" He demanded, snarling. 

"Who, me? I just came here to congratulate my favorite big brother on his upcoming showcase! I'm really looking forward to it, you know." She purred. 

He clicked his tongue. "This was your idea, wasn't it?" He realized. 

"Of course not." She held a hand to her chest. "It was all Father's idea. I merely commented on your prowess, especially in relation to your pitiful displays the last he saw you perform, and he decided on the showcase from there. Why? Are you questioning his judgement?" 

He glared for a while longer, considering her, what her intentions might be. How much did she know, how much had she guessed? "Of course not." 

"Well, then, I again give my congratulations. I'm certain you'll manage to make Father proud this time." 

"Get out of my room, Azula." He snapped.

She rolled her eyes, standing to comply. Just at the door, she paused, turning to look at him seriously. "Oh, and one more thing; I suggest you spend the rest of the day training. You should really have some choreography in mind for the performance." She advised. 

"Out!" He shouted, and the door closed behind her. 

Slumping to his bed, he considered her words. She was right, actually. He really should be training. Under normal circumstances, he would. 

Unfortunately, he couldn't risk anyone,  _ anyone  _ catching him running through kata without any fire to show for it. He had yet to discover whatever  _ passion _ Uncle had suggested he look for, and his inner flame still lingered frustratingly out of reach. 

Since he'd given up on his crazed pursuit of the Avatar, he'd simply been following orders, going along obediently with whatever he was told. He'd worked at the teashop at Uncle's request, he'd returned home at Sokka's request, and now, he cowered obediently, awaiting his Father's requests. None of it was his own choice, none of it was backed by his own passion, none of it spoke to his ambition. What was his ambition? 

At this point, he just wanted to live a quiet life, without having to make any hard decisions, without anyone he loved getting hurt. But this was a war, an endless, all-encompassing war, and his life was nothing  _ but  _ hard decisions. Someone he loved  _ had  _ to get hurt, and many already had. Uncle was wasting away in a high-security prison. The Avatar had only barely survived, the last hope for Sokka and his people nearly falling before his eyes. Choosing not to fight at all  _ still  _ led to pain. 

So, was that it? Did he need to join the fight against his father, take an active role in tearing him from his throne, to even the playing field just a bit more? Or would that just drag things out further, bring more fury down on the Avatar and his rebellion? 

His choices were always wrong, always misguided and stupid and they only brought disaster in their wake. Even if he  _ could _ help the Avatar, even if he could be useful, even if making that decision changed the very tides of the war...

He imagined Azula, the sun darkened by the moon, her firebending just out of her reach, pale and lifeless in a pool of blood, a whalebone spear drawing back from a mortal wound. 

He imagined his father, in chains, broken and defeated, having felled a hundred soldiers before being brought low, surrounded by death and yet far from triumph. 

The images didn't feel good. 

Hadn't he already agreed to help make those visions into reality, though? He hadn't been able to deliver on that promise, being barred from war meetings and all, but the intent was there. Would offering his blades really make so much difference? What was the  _ difference,  _ really, if it was his own blade that ended their lives, versus simply allowing it to happen, versus  _ aiding _ the blades that would do it?

There was a chill in his gut where his fire should be, a terrified helplessness enshrouding him, snuffing out the stirrings of decisiveness. 

He had to figure this out by tomorrow. He  _ had  _ to. 

It wasn't only his own life on the line. 

\---

Sokka poured over the schedule from his usual seat in Appa's saddle, the bison flying low and steady around uninhabited islands, looking for a place to camp. 

His original goal, to tackle two problems at once, helping his spirit friend as well as continuing forward with the invasion plans, seemed to be in severe trouble. If there really was spirit activity in these places, it would be risky to approach them recklessly. The Painted Lady had helped him reenter his body, but she wouldn't be around everywhere, and he hadn't seen Jin Lu since the spirit had attacked him. 

Oh, spirits, would he even be able to visit Zuko while they were still in the Fire Nation?! It was one hurdle after another, trying to coordinate with the prince, and their time was already slipping away, like so much sand in an hourglass. 

He referenced his copied notes, considering them carefully. They had two short stops planned before the next long one, and that was a wilted forest, the sun blocked out by the ash coughed out by the factories installed there. Forests, as they'd already seen, were hotbeds for spirit activity. If the pollution to the skies was as bad for the spirits there as the pollution to the river had been... 

They had to take that chance. The damage to the environment here, and the subsequent damage to the spirit world, was warping his spirit friend into something unrecognizable. Grimly, he recalled Hei Bai, the spirit that had looked so monstrous, who had gone on a week-long rampage, who's true form was a cuddly and cute bear, much like the Earth King's Bosco. Would something similar happen to Jin Lu? Would he be warped, not just regarding his mind, but his very form, as well? 

Stopping the destruction of the landscape was the only way to be sure his friend would be okay, to be sure he could wake up in the real world with consistency, and to be sure he could actually carry out their plans and visit Zuko once in a while. 

Dissatisfied, he rerolled the scrolls, slipping them carefully into their case again, just as Aang tugged the reins to guide Appa toward the nearest island. 

This stop was a supply run, a relatively busy, yet small, town just at the foot of the mountain they landed on, but no other inhabitants. The island was unsuited for farmland, especially without any earthbenders to force the mountains to shape to their will, so the town below engaged in lively trade. They'd be able to procure what they needed and be on their way. The plan was to camp for the night, purchase supplies in the morning, and reach the next island by nightfall tomorrow. They were slightly behind schedule, his recovery from that spirit world nonsense putting them back by one night, so they especially couldn't afford any setbacks here. 

If he was a bit tense and snappish while they made camp for the evening, no one commented on it. The rocky outcropping they'd stopped on would have been dangerously exposed, had it been just on the other side of the mountain, towards the town, and anxiety flared in his chest. They couldn't  _ afford  _ to be spotted, not with how tight their deadline was. 

But there were few trees here, mostly just a bunch of dry grassland, sprouting up in the valleys between the mountains. It would have to do. 

\---

Zuko spent much of the day surrounded by servants, fussing over his hair, his clothes, his skin as best they could manage. His too-short, unruly hair was forced into a neat topknot, his entire body coated in scented oils, his robes layered in such a way that he could remove the top two with little trouble, leaving him in a special outfit designed just for his showcase. How long had the Fire Lord planned for this, to have already commissioned an outfit for him? And why had he been given so little warning in advance? 

He forced himself not to chew at his lips, a soft pink balm already coating them. The visiting nobles shouldn't see that he was stressed, after all. A prince should not be  _ anxious _ . 

The left side of his face tingled strangely beneath the scar tissue there, feeling unusually sensitive after being poked and prodded and coated with both a strong-scented lotion and a dusting of pale powder in an attempt to smooth it into imperceptibility. 

Looking in a mirror, it just looked like he had sneezed confectioners' sugar all over his face. There was no helping the glaring deformity. 

Still, this was all under his father's orders, and the man had specifically requested he look 'presentable'. If this was his idea of 'presentable', if this would make it easier for the nobles to stomach  _ looking  _ at him, he'd grit his teeth and bear it. 

His scar was far from the most troubling part of this evening, after all. 

While meditating the previous day, he'd felt the occasional flare coming from his elusive inner fire. The more frustrated he grew, the warmer it felt, but it was clearly still weak. Waves of anxiety had also often brought a small flicker, but chasing those feelings always just made it grow cold. 

Now, not an hour before he was expected to present himself, nothing he did elicited the same reaction. Not a spark, not a flicker, not even an unusually warm sensation. 

Nothing. 

"Prince Zuko, if you would allow me...?" A servant hesitantly requested, holding out a nail buffer. Ridiculous. If he was actually able to bend, he'd be getting his nails sooty, regardless. He'd never been able to stop the little bit of singe to his fingertips, no matter how much he trained. 

Azula's nails were always polished, buffed, sharpened precisely, glimmering and perfect. 

He nodded to the servant, holding out his hand patiently, allowing the service. 

\---

As the stars brightened above them, Aang gasped in wonder. 

"Guys, guys, look! It's a star shower!" He called, reaching for Katara's hands to pull her to a better viewing spot. 

"Woah, what?" She yelped, unprepared for being tugged to her feet. Still, she followed the airbender as he led her off, finding an unobstructed area to seat themselves. 

"Toph, Sokka, you coming?" Aang's voice carried from their new perch easily. So he hadn't wandered too far off, this time. 

"Eh, you see nothing once, you've seen it a thousand times." Toph waved off the suggestion, but still followed along, liking to be part of the group activities, even when she couldn't participate. 

"I'm always down for some astrological phenomena. Be there in a sec." Sokka assured him. He snuffed out their campfire, leading Appa away from the edge, before joining them. Maybe it was paranoia, but he preferred to call it 'reasonable caution'. 

The meteor shower was in full swing by the time he sat on his sister's other side, gazing up at the twinkling sky with wide eyes. Was Zuko watching the shower, too, from the palace? Did the lights from the capitol city dim the stars, like they had in Ba Sing Se? Or was he too busy for this sort of thing, taking care of endless important duties, whatever it was that royals did with their time all day? 

\---

The hour arrived, and Zuko took his place on the great hall's stage. The guests had been mingling for some time already, enjoying the banquet and milling about. Some light entertainment had taken up their time, a band of minstrels, a troupe of firebending acrobats, a heavily made-up woman singing a traditional ballad, but it was finally time for the main event. 

Breathing steadily, he forced his hands still. Tremors would give him away long before his failure to bend. He may still have time to salvage this. 

He took center stage, dropping his outer robes with purpose to buy himself more time. As he took his first stance, glimmering gold robes revealed, his arms exposed and on full display, the crowd applauded dutifully. 

His gut was still cold. 

He ran through a set of stances, blending them together like he had seen waterbenders do so many times now, turning the kata into a dance. It was unusual, surely, but this was a performance, right? 

For the second set, he drew on the torches on either side of the stage, borrowing their flames. The firebending masters harrumphed from the crowd, but he pulled the borrowed fire into fantastical shapes, recalling the performer at the Fire Days festival he had attended under weak pretense with Sokka months ago. 

Fear clawed at his gut again. If he didn't pull off something spectacular here, he'd never fulfill his promise to Sokka. They were supposed to try to see fireworks together for a third time someday, to catch the big finale without distractions for once. He would fail here, he would face punishment, and Sokka would never even know what happened to him, if he was lucky. 

If he was  _ un _ lucky, and boy, were both of them  _ always  _ so unlucky, his failure here would lead his father to realize the Avatar was still alive, to send the army in full force to finish him, and Sokka would meet the same end Zuko would. Imprisonment, at best. Execution, at worst. 

Terrified, his movements stilled. He stood, head hanging, back to the audience, for a long minute, trying so hard, so terribly hard, not to cry. His eyes had been lined, his skin coated with powder. If he cried, it would be horrifically apparent. He couldn't allow this weakness. 

He breathed, the torches in the room following his breaths. He reached out, touching all of them, synchronizing the light in the entire room with his own power. He dimmed them, further and further, until the hall fell to pitch blackness. 

\---

One of the meteors was not like the others. Huge, trailing brilliant blue flames behind, it rocketed toward the town below. 

Aang was on Appa before it had even landed, helping the rest of the team up onto his bare back quickly, and they sped off, watching the projectile slam into the valley nestled just north of the town. It had missed the most dangerous target, but the dry grass lining the valley caught fire quickly, smoke building before they landed. 

In a way, it was a relief. The smoke covered Appa's descent as they grew dangerously near the town. 

On the other hand, Sokka was cold with terror. The fire was already huge, the crater of the impact easily one hundred meters in diameter, and it was spreading quickly. Even with their powerful bending on full, risky display, there was a very real danger of injury. Sokka had nearly died once, fire scalding his throat shut, and even the smoke was likely hot enough to reproduce the effect. 

Katara created a rainstorm out of a river, Toph smothered the flames with the earth beneath them, and Aang combined bending styles in an impressive show of his Avatar talents, but Sokka was forced to sit by, watching the flames lick far too close to his friends' faces, clutching Momo to keep the lemur from getting too near and breathing in the smoke. 

What would happen if they died here, after everything, just for some stupid, reckless attempt to tame a force of nature?! The war would be lost, obviously, the last territories of the Earth Kingdom following Ba Sing Se's fall, but what about Zuko? Stuck there in the palace, among enemies, never knowing what became of them, waiting anxiously for the Day of Black Sun, for an invasion force without a trump card to arrive. 

A leaping flame licked out, far too close for comfort, and Sokka shrieked, shielding Momo with his body. As he crouched, terrified, a second bout of flame followed. It shivered, growing along with his fear, forcing him to scramble backwards. 

"Sokka!" Katara's voice called through the roar of the flames. "Sokka, calm down! I think you're making it worse!" 

"What?! You're blaming me?!" He shouted, diving away from a snapping shower of sparks. "I'm not doing anything!" 

"Yes, you are! And you need to  _ stop _ !" She insisted. "We can't put the fire out if you're bending it  _ bigger _ !" 

"I'm not bending anyth-" He stopped shouting, feeling for his chi. Sure enough, there it was, flickering violently, following the pace of his racing heartbeat. 

He forced his breathing to even, feeling out where the all-consuming flames burned. He'd had a hold on them just a moment ago, unconsciously, so if he could just grasp them again... 

With several slow, steady, meditative breaths, he forced himself and the flames to calm. As they lowered, the rest of the team tackled the dying flames, snuffing the last of the embers. 

The adrenaline ebbed, and he realized his hands were trembling.

\---

The moment the room fell into darkness, warmth flickered to life in Zuko's stomach. He nearly choked on his relief. A part of him had been planning a reckless dash, under cover of darkness, to try to escape this humiliating display. 

But, just in time, Sokka had saved him. 

The crowd gasped as bursts of flame illuminated the room, the brightness of his fire reaching even the furthest corners in his anxious overenthusiasm. He performed several kata, from all bending styles, showing off his particular specialty: adapting. Learning from others, making their strengths his own, this,  _ this  _ was what he was good at. Streams of flame whipped out, cracking with sparks over the crowd, and genuine applause rang out. Awed murmurs followed as he summoned strong walls of fire, sweeping across the specialized fireproof stage. He twisted and spun, mimicking Aang at his best, and a wave of scattered fire, fluttering like so many birds, swept out and over the heads of the gathered nobility, catching on the many torches he had put out just before. Closing out the performance, he ran through a few of the advanced forms Uncle had drilled him in, performing them in full view of the disapproving firebending masters. 

As the last kata closed, his fire sputtered and died. 

A cheer went up, the crowd now fully enthusiastic, and he bowed to their applause, retrieving his outer robes. The minstrels took the stage again as he exited, bowing to him and thanking him for the show, and he descended the steps to mingle with the guests. 

There was a surge of bodies as he touched the main floor, comprised mostly of young women, all clamoring to be the first to offer their congratulations. He mentally thanked the servants for their choice in scented oils, although he'd detested them at the time of application; even though he'd worked up a sweat onstage, he still gave off a floral scent now.

He called upon his many lessons in etiquette now, upon his half-remembered experiences as a preteen, politely accepting praise and bowing only his head, as acceptable. 

Slowly, the crowd thinned, his most enthusiastic supporters satisfied, for now, and one of the stony-faced firebending masters approached him, clearing his throat. 

"Prince Zuko, might I ask who trained you? Your technique seems quite... unconventional." 

It wasn't a compliment. He chose to take it as one. "I have had many tutors, but I made the most advancements under the tutelage of my uncle, General Iroh."

The man seemed uncomfortable. "Ah, yes. The Dragon of the West. I am certain he was... quite the capable teacher, although obviously his  _ loyalty _ left... much to be desired. You say he... taught you these forms? All of them?" 

"He taught me the techniques I needed to master them, yes. In my travels, I learned that it is important to learn from your enemy, to adapt your strategy accordingly. Many of my strongest forms were modelled off of particularly strong benders from other nations." 

" _ Modelled  _ off of... Well, I understand the need to, hmm,  _ adjust _ one's strategy on the battlefield, but I do hope that, now you've returned to the homeland, you will be returning to... more  _ proper,  _ more  _ traditional  _ forms. Firebending is an art, after all, and it should be practiced with due reverence. It is not merely a plaything, Prince Zuko." 

Zuko nodded his head, as shallow a bow as he could get away with. "Thank you for your wisdom. I will keep this in mind as I continue my training." 

Satisfied, the man bowed in return, a slight tilt at the waist. Contempt still lingering in his gaze, he melted back into the crowd. 

"Oh, Zuzu, that was  _ quite _ the show." Azula purred, appearing behind him. "As I thought, it was really something to behold. I'm glad I came to watch." 

He sighed, barely remembering to keep a pleasant expression on his face. "Azula. I'm grateful you came." 

She hummed, frowning a bit at his non-reaction. "You  _ did  _ have me worried, you know. Back in the Earth Kingdom, I mean. I almost thought you  _ couldn't  _ bend anymore." 

"You saw me bending when you interrupted that date with Mai, remember?" He pointed out. 

She waved a hand. Her nails were perfectly buffed, as always. He hid his own sooty nails in his clenched fists. "Yes, yes, playing with a little flame like a children's toy, I recall." She gave him a flat look. "Still, I have to wonder if Father will actually be  _ pleased  _ with your display today. It really was quite unconventional, even for you." 

He shrugged. "You know I was always a fan of theater." 

"Quite." Her tone was unimpressed. She sighed. "Well, I'll let you get back to your adoring guests. I really did just want to congratulate you." 

"You mean just now, or yesterday?" 

She let the question hang in the air for a moment, amber eyes staring into his own. "Good night, Zuzu." 

He watched her stalk off primly, until he was finally distracted by another young noble tugging at his sleeve. 

"I have a girlfriend..." He muttered weakly, knowing it wouldn't do much. These girls had already proven relentless. 

\---

Sokka was restless the next morning, even worse than the night before, and everyone gave him a wide berth. He even hung back several paces as they went to town, Katara glancing back at him in-between checking her list of groceries to purchase. 

Still, he couldn't bring himself to even  _ pretend  _ to be normal right now. Guilt ate at him, worse than ever. He hadn't noticed at the time, too caught up in the heat of the moment, in doing his best to protect himself, his friends, and this very town, but being able to bend last night meant he'd shared an intense emotion with Zuko. 

He'd been terrified for his life. 

Whatever Zuko was doing last night, whoever he was  _ with,  _ Zuko had been afraid. Terrified. 

Sokka was again reminded that he'd sent Zuko away to relive the worst parts of his life, and this time as a spy. As scared as Sokka had been regarding the meteor crashing down, almost  _ killing  _ all of them, Zuko had been  _ exactly that scared, too.  _

It was an awful thought. Was he still scared now? Was he in trouble? 

"We have to go to the palace." He announced, suddenly, in the middle of the street. "Fuck the eclipse, fuck the schedule, we have to go  _ now. _ "

"Sokka, what's this about?" Katara asked, tugging him by the elbow into a smaller side street. 

"Zuko's in trouble, I know it. We have to go. I can't wait around, not  _ knowing _ ..." He tried to tug away, intending to head back to camp.

"Sokka... even if we did go right now, there's nothing we could do. You know we won't make it anywhere  _ near  _ the palace without the rest of the plan. Why are you freaking out?" 

"I'm not freaking out! I'm being completely, totally rational right now!" He insisted, waving his free arm in an admittedly irrational manner. "Look. I was able to bend last night. I was too scared to even notice at first, because I thought we were all going to die, but I was able to bend." 

"Yeah, and you helped us all out! You contained the fire really well. You're getting really good at controlling your bending, you know." 

"Thanks, but I'm not asking to be patronized right now." 

Katara pouted, but let him continue. 

"What I mean is... we, that is, you and me... we can do the special soulmate bending stuff when, you know, our souls resonate or whatever. Most of the time, you and Aang do it because you're both in danger, right?" 

Katara's gaze grew distant. Shit, that's right, she'd been earthbending when Aang... 

"My point is... I was in danger last night, and terrified, and worried about what would happen to you guys, to Zuko, and then I suddenly could firebend! That means Zuko was in danger, too!" 

"That makes sense, but... Sokka, if he was in danger last night, we won't get to him in time to help out, anyway. Even being reckless about it, it would take us three whole days to even get there." 

"That's not what I- ugh, Katara, he's in danger the whole time he's there! Remember what I told you guys, about his dad? The Fire Lord is a fucked up monster, and Zuko's just a... a sitting turtleduck up there! Who knows what he's doing?!" 

"Sokka, he  _ knew  _ what he was agreeing to when you made your plan together, right?" Katara reminded him. "Even if he  _ is  _ in sudden, immediate danger, it was something he agreed to. Maybe you didn't realize what you were asking of him, but he  _ did.  _ Okay?" 

"Yeah, but-" 

"No 'but's, Sokka. Just calm down. Okay?" She repeated, looking intently into his eyes. 

He caved, tension leaving his body all at once, slumping so his forehead hit her shoulder. "Yeah. Yeah, okay." 

"Okay. Listen, when we're done getting what we need, do you want to do a little shopping? Just for fun?" She offered. 

He perked up. "Oh! If there's a weapons shop, I want to find it! The Fire Nation is really good at making weapons." 

"That's the spirit. Come on, let's get back to the others." 

\---

The Fire Lord called Zuko to the audience chamber the morning after his showcase. It was impossible to see his expression, backlit, as always, by his own fire, and Zuko made his way with dread slowing his steps to the front of the cavernous hall. 

He knelt, awaiting judgement. 

"You did well, Prince Zuko. I see now how you bested the Avatar." The Fire Lord's cold voice sent sharp cuts down his spine. "You used his own strategy against him, didn't you? While he traveled to learn from other disciplines, you did the same." 

"Yes, Father." 

"It's commendable, really. But... Oh, Prince Zuko, I have to make just  _ one  _ small comment..." 

"Yes, Father?" 

The Fire Lord stood, descending from the throne. He paced forward, circling Zuko like a dolphin-shark, teeth bared for the kill. "Are you really so  _ weak _ and  _ useless  _ that you had to stoop to such tactics? Your sister has  _ never  _ had to taint the sacred, traditional art of firebending like you have. It is an insult to our traditions, to our people, to our way of life, that you treat your bending like you have."

"I-I'm sorry, Father." 

"You're  _ sorry. _ " A breathy noise of contempt told him just what the Fire Lord thought of that sentiment. "And, I imagine, you resolve to do better in the future?" 

"Yes, Father." 

"Hmm." The pacing boots completed a circle, returning to the small patch of floor he could see from his deep bow. "Show me." 

Zuko blinked, not understanding the request. Failure to comply would be harshly punished, but he couldn't figure out  _ how. _ "Um, excuse me?" 

A hand gripped his arm tightly, hot to the touch even through his layered robes. "Show me! You will perform your firebending kata  _ properly _ for me! I want to see you do it  _ right! _ Not the vulgar way my brother forced on you, but  _ real  _ firebending!" 

"...You're hurting me." Zuko choked out, too terrified to stand under his own power, the Fire Lord's grip on his arm the only thing keeping him upright. 

"The fault is your own,  _ Prince  _ Zuko! You disobey me,  _ undermine  _ me, humiliate me in front of our guests!" 

"I'm sorry!" Zuko pleaded, tears stinging his good eye. Would he get to keep it? 

"You're  _ sorry?!  _ Again with the  _ apologies,  _ with the  _ excuses!  _ You're a miserable failure, and I refuse to watch you ruin our family's good name!" 

Zuko was thrown to the ground harshly, bruising his elbows when he failed to catch himself gracefully. 

"Get out of my sight!" 

"Father...?"

"Go!" 

The flames surrounding the throne roared, and a burst of fire from the Fire Lord's outstretched hand chased Zuko out of the chamber's doors. 

\---

The weapons shop proved even more interesting than originally expected. After testing out several of the sturdier weapons in the shop, those that drew  _ less _ of an irate glare from the shopkeep when he did so, a certain blade caught his eye. 

Of  _ course  _ it did, though... Sokka was nothing if not predictable. Dragon motifs always drew him in, for reasons he would be embarrassed to admit, even to himself. Inlaid in gold on the hilt, detailed and intricate, and copied in an engraving on the blade itself, the dragon grinned at him. 

He traced his fingers along it. 

"You have a good eye." The shopkeep praised, appearing relieved that he wasn't swinging this one around recklessly. "That blade was forged by Master Piandao himself." 

"Piandao?" Katara asked, tilting her head. 

Sokka lit up. "That was Zuko's sword master!" He realized, growing even more attached to this blade. 

The shopkeep looked appalled. 

Sokka cleared his throat. "I, uh, I mean, His Highness, Prince Zuko." He corrected himself. 

"The very same." The shopkeep confirmed. "He is the greatest swordsman and sword crafter in the Fire Nation. He has trained many elite swordsmen in his time, including His Royal Highness. This humble town is proud to call him one of our own." 

Sokka's heartbeat picked up. "So, you mean he lives here? On this island?" 

"Yes, in the grand mansion up on the hill." 

The team shared excited glances. 

"You should go see him, Sokka! Maybe you can train under him, too!" Aang suggested. 

"It  _ would  _ be really cool to go meet one of Zuko's- I mean Prince Zuko's old teachers. He always spoke of Master Piandao highly." Still clutching the sword in his hands, he remembered himself. Carefully, he returned the sword to its place, mounted on the wall. It was almost certainly too expensive for them, anyway. "But I can't. We have a tight schedule to keep. We can't afford to waste time here." 

"Come on, Sokka, we can rework the schedule." Katara had a soft smile on her face like that  _ wasn't  _ an anxiety-inducing suggestion. "You never take any time for yourself. All of us got to train with masters for our bending, but you've had to learn everything by yourself. I think you should do it." 

Sokka shrugged, still staring at the sword, the dragon grinning back at him like it was mocking him. "I trained with Suki, remember? And I had Dad to teach me when we were younger." 

"You trained with Suki for a  _ day,  _ Sokka, and Dad taught you to hunt, not to fight. Aang and I had  _ weeks  _ with Master Pakku!" 

"When I learned from the badger-moles, they had  _ years  _ to teach me." Toph piped up. 

"So, you can take an extra couple of days to train. You should, you know? You deserve it." Katara nudged him gently with her elbow, and he rocked with it glumly, doubt still gnawing at him. 

"Okay. I'll go. If you're sure." 

Katara nodded firmly. "Totally sure." 

He nodded back at her, still lost in his warring thoughts. 

Uncertain of the decision, he climbed the hill, approaching Master Piandao's mansion. 

The path wound around as it climbed, softening the incline, but Sokka was still a bit out of breath by the time he reached the great doors. A man three times his height could walk through them without ducking. Who even needed doors that big?! What was it with nobility and making things way bigger than necessary?! 

There were heavy rings dangling from the twisted grins of what appeared to be solid gold lion-turtles, and Sokka slammed them heavily, the sound echoing behind the enormous doors into the undoubtedly cavernous halls behind. 

One of the doors opened while his hand still clung to the knocker, tugging him forward and nearly sending him tumbling to the ground. He barely managed to catch himself, scrambling to look dignified in front of Piandao's steward. 

"Can I help you?" The man asked, glancing over his visitor. 

"Um, yes. I've come to train with the master." Sokka informed him, hands folded neatly behind his back, spine straight. 

The steward hummed. "You should know the master turns almost everyone away. What did you bring him to prove your worth?" 

He was holding his hand out patiently, awaiting some sort of offering. Sokka panicked, patting himself down. Besides the clothes on his back, he'd brought nothing along, not that they had much to begin with. 

"Well, um..." He stalled, trying to come up with something. Some excuse, maybe. 

"Right. Let's get this over with." The steward sighed, allowing him entrance. 

The great doors led to a sprawling courtyard, led to a gratuitous structure with another set of enormous doors, led to cavernous hallways (as expected), led to a brightly-lit chamber, a calm breeze swirling in through wide windows. 

A man sat there, at a low table, face serious, as he carefully wrote some sort of note in with a steady hand. 

"Master Piandao?" He greeted uncertainly. 

Piandao hummed in response, not looking up. 

"My name is Sokka. I wish to be instructed in the way of the sword. I'm, um..." He glanced behind him at the steward, still hovering judgmentally in the doorway. "I'm a friend of Zuko's. That is- Prince Zuko's, and he always spoke of you highly. It would be a great honor to study under you, as he did." 

"Sokka, is it? That's an unusual name." Piandao commented. 

Shit. He should have thought of an alias. "Oh, uh, really?" 

Piandao glanced up at him, setting his brush aside momentarily. "Prince Zuko's friend, hm? You must be the boy..." 

Sokka almost groaned. Did everyone in the whole Fire Nation know about him?! 

"General Iroh mentioned you in his letters to me." He explained, as though reading Sokka's mind. Sokka forced his expression back to neutrality. "Tell me, has the prince been keeping up with his training? He was quite the promising student." 

"Oh, yeah, definitely." Sokka confirmed easily. "I've seen him move with those swords and, man, it's really something else." 

Piandao chuckled. "He always preferred a challenge. I tried to start him on a more... beginner-friendly blade, but he was drawn to the dual blades quite early in his training. It is good to hear he is still getting use out of his swordwork, even though I hear his bending talents have improved, as well." 

Refusing to take the easy path... that sounded like Zuko, all right. Sokka remembered him telling the story differently, though. 

When Zuko had first started training with swords, he'd found his usual single-minded focus, that suited firebending so well, was not nearly so suited for swordplay. He would put his energy into a single, brutish swing, following through with force, and would leave himself open to attack on his other side. It was something he hadn't been able to shake until he tried a new weapon. The second sword forced him to pull off on his attacks, using dexterity rather than strength to manipulate them, and the second blade covered his exposed side well. 

"You know, I won't accept simply name-dropping an important noble, even the Crown Prince, as proof of your worth." Piandao warned, bringing him back to the moment. 

Sokka flinched. "Oh, I wasn't trying-" 

"I understand. Still, my time is very valuable, and there are many who have fought to even stand where you do now. What makes you worthy of my time, Sokka?" 

"Oh, um..." Sokka considered the question carefully. He hadn't considered, coming here, that he might be turned away. It was stupid and shortsighted of him. He'd been so wrapped up in whether he  _ should  _ that he forgot to consider whether he  _ could _ . 

He gnawed at his lip. 

"I don't know that I am." He admitted, honestly. "I've met so many people in my travels, people who are incredible with or without bending, people who have so much raw talent, and it's all I can do to... try my best to catch up."

"Hmm... then, perhaps, how about a test? I will give you several trials today and, should you prove yourself worthy, I will continue to train you. Can you agree to those terms?" 

Sokka nodded, trying not to seem too eager. There was no way of telling when the 'test' began, after all. "Yes, Master Piandao." 

"Excellent. Let's get you a change of clothes, then we will begin. Meet me back here when you are dressed." 

Piandao nodded to his steward, who bowed and led Sokka from the room. 

Twisting hallways led past courtyards and rooms serving varied and confusing purposes, until they finally reached what appeared to be a guest wing. 

The steward dug through a rack of robes, glancing back at Sokka several times as he did so, before finally producing a set, almost identical to those Piandao favored, but in a much smaller size. 

Sokka accepted the change of clothes, ducking behind the privacy panels to put them on. 

"Is there, um, a smaller size?" He asked cautiously, tugging the pants higher. Still, they reached beneath his heels. 

"No." Came the curt reply, and he frowned at the offending garment. 

Why was everyone in the Fire Nation so tall? He had never thought of himself as particularly short, even though he knew he still had time to grow, but it seemed like every time he borrowed anything from these people, he was drowning in it. 

Resigning himself to fighting with these pants as long as he was training here, he rolled the cuffs neatly, freeing his heels. 

"Okay, I'm ready." 

\---

The tests were... unconventional, so Sokka's solutions were unconventional, as well. Piandao patiently explained the purpose of each task as it related to swordsmanship, and Sokka wasn't certain he displayed any of the right qualities, but Piandao didn't send him away, so he must not be doing all  _ that  _ poorly. 

The sun began to lower, bleeding the sky into a murky orange, and Piandao sat with him, drinking a refreshing cup of some lightly-flavored tea. 

"You did very well today." Piandao praised. 

Sokka blinking into his tea. "I did? But I thought I screwed up every test?" 

Piandao chuckled at him, as he had so often that day. "Yes. But you did so in a very special way. You've demonstrated creativity, versatility, intelligence... These are qualities I cannot train into a student, and, so, they are what I look for in potential pupils. You have all of them in spades." 

"Oh. Thank you?" 

"You are very welcome." He gently sat his cup down in front of him, regarding Sokka seriously. "Tomorrow, we can begin training seriously." 

"Oh! Thank you!" Sokka set his own cup down, as well, before he spilled it in his excitement. He shuffled back a couple of paces, giving himself room to bow low. "I won't let you down." 

"I am certain you will not." 

"But..." Sokka peeked up from where his forehead pressed into the stone of the courtyard, frowning up at the master swordsman. "I can't stay for very long, you know. My friends and I... we have a schedule to keep, and we're already behind." 

Piandao nodded. "I understand. I believe I can teach you the basics you will need to build your own training regimen if you can give me... three days. How does that sound?" 

Three days, huh? If they cut out two of their stops, maybe the more dangerous ones, they could make up the time. He tilted his head, considering. "I think I can do that." 

"Excellent. Tomorrow, I will drill you in the very basics. I'm certain you already understand blade safety, based on the way you wielded the practice swords today, so we may begin with proper stances. The day after, we will begin forging for you your very own sword." 

Sokka's heart leapt. A sword forged specially for him, by the best swordsmith in the nation?! 

"I will see you at the break of dawn. I'm certain it will be an easy appointment to keep. You firebenders wake up early, after all." 

"How did you...?" 

"I can tell in the way you carry yourself." Piandao claimed, before cracking a small smile. "Plus, General Iroh may have mentioned something in one of his letters." 

"Oh." 

"If you wish to stay here for tonight, Fat will show you to a room." 

The steward stepped forward at his gesture, bowing shallowly. 

"Unless you would prefer to check in with your friends?" Piandao allowed. 

"No, that's okay. They're the ones who encouraged me to come here, after all." 

Piandao nodded with understanding, nodding at Fat to dismiss them both. 

Through the labyrinthine mansion again, the steward led Sokka to the same wing as before, stopping at a grandiose bedroom, the surfaces in which were layered finely with dust. 

"Guess these don't see a lot of use, huh?" He commented, swiping a finger along the edge of a table.

Fat did not respond, clicking his tongue irritably.  _ He must still be upset about me beating him in that last sparring match... _ Sokka thought, and held back a giggle. 

\---

A trio of servants knocked on Zuko's door the morning following his father's threats, informing him they were to prepare him for a war council meeting later that day. He was to be dressed, his hair styled, and to familiarize himself with some notes regarding the agenda. 

"There's not a lot of information here." He pointed out, pulling the scroll open to its full, pitiful length. 

"I was told it's because the topic today is very sensitive. They don't want any of the information to end up in the wrong hands." The girl nervously explained. 

What was the point of a briefing memo, then?

He hummed, reading through the words. 

The servant doing his hair kept pulling his head back to center as he did so, his usual habit of tilting his head to bring the words into focus with his good eye frustrating her, so he paused in his review while she worked. As before, this process took a lot of combing and a lot of wax, gluing his too-short hairs to themselves while the longest made it into the actual topknot, pulled too tightly to be comfortable. The skin at the very edges of his scar tugged, shooting pain in unexpected directions through the damaged nerves, the hair pulling harshly. 

It was a relief when she was finished, though he still had to wear his hair like this through the rest of the day, now. 

He returned to reading the notes as the third servant worked to tie a formal set of robes around him, fussing over every seam and fold. 

They were to discuss defenses of the capitol today, though the reason for the topic wasn't clearly marked, and the measures suggested were vague, at best. It  _ could  _ just be that, as the army spread its reach further following the collapse of Ba Sing Se, they needed to restructure their homeland defensive strategies, but what little information there was seemed to indicate an  _ increased  _ military presence here in the caldera. 

He worried his lip, to the dismay of his stylists, as he contemplated the implications. What if they somehow  _ knew _ about the invasion? What if they were preparing to be attacked during the eclipse, shoring up their defensive efforts, and the invasion would fail? 

No, he couldn't think like that. The invasion would work, would  _ have  _ to. Ozai would fall, Zuko would claim the throne, and the war would be over. There was no other way this could go, because if they failed... if they  _ failed... _

The servant finished dressing him, buckling the final piece of decorative armor around his shoulders, and declared him ready for the meeting. 

\---

The training was harsh, especially under the relentless Fire Nation sun. Summer here meant little, when they were so close to the planet's equator, but it was even hotter than their usual hot, and their usual was  _ hot. _ Sokka wiped sweat from his brow, readjusting his grip on the wooden sword, allowing the sweat from his palms to soak into the cloth grip, and repeated the motion Piandao wanted him to drill. 

"Very good. Excellent form." Piandao praised. "Again." 

It was grueling work, instilling muscle memory so that he could build on the proper technique later, and Sokka's limbs felt wobbly, even before midday. Sometime soon, they would have to break for lunch, right? With his exhaustion, he didn't even feel hungry, for once. 

"Bring that foot back further, remember! Your stance needs to be sturdier. Your opponent will be able to unseat you like that. Again!" 

It was strange to think that Zuko, who was so fluid and adaptable with his blades, studied under the same instruction. It seemed like, despite his emphasis on creativity, Piandao wanted him to never be able to swing in any other way than this. 

"Make sure you bring the blade to the exact same place every time! Choose a point on the horizon, and strike it! Again!" 

No, that was unfair. If he drilled the muscle memory in, he would be able to fall back into a sturdy stance, no matter what creative thing he tried. He could backflip off of that bridge, leap from that tree, even cartwheel away from his opponent, and he'd be able to hit this stance again instantly. 

It was still  _ so boring. _

"Better! Again!" 

And sure, bringing his practice sword to the same spot every time was building his control, so that he could choose a target and hit it with precision, choose to startle or injure or kill an opponent as he desired, but he wouldn't be able to even  _ lift  _ his arm if this kept up! In fact, it may fall off soon! He prayed silently to the spirits to free him from this torture. 

"Enough!" Piandao called. "Take a break. We will have lunch, then you will practice a bit of calligraphy before we start again." 

"Oh, thank the moon and sea..." He muttered, slumping. As he broke the stance, he found himself even  _ more  _ sore than previously anticipated. He groaned. 

Piandao chuckled. "It's not easy, certainly, but you're making astounding progress already. You're a very quick learner, and remarkably disciplined." 

"Thank you, Master Piandao." Sokka wheezed, genuinely. The praise felt very good, even if the training decidedly did  _ not. _

\---

Zuko felt the air punched from his lungs as his worst fears found him in the war room. 

"We will be prepared to combat this force when they come. These rebels will not topple our great nation!" One of the generals declared, following a passionate speech about his plans to repel the invasion. 

They were prepared for the eclipse. Perhaps, they were even overprepared, ready to face a legion of Earth Kingdom troops, sent by the conspicuously missing King Kuei. They had a convoluted escape plan in place for the royal family, sending them all to separate bunkers, with the Fire Lord in a secret, secluded bunker, reinforced several times over, with a labyrinth of metal tunnels leading to its only entrance. Zuko, himself, was to be sent to one of the usual bunkers, to play as a distraction, or as bait, as the case may be. 

Azula, of course, was not expected to be a sacrificial lamb-calf, waiting out in another high-security bunker, unlikely to be accessed without some sort of insider knowledge of the tunnels. 

Secretly, he took solace in the knowledge that Toph would be able to find her easily. 

Azula confidently gave her own reports of what she knew from infiltrating Ba Sing Se, of the usual troop movements of the Earth Kingdom, of the scale and makeup of the force King Kuei had originally promised, of where the soldiers had scattered after the fall of their largest city-state. 

"And Prince Zuko? You were in Ba Sing Se as well, were you not?" The Fire Lord prompted. "Have you anything to add?" 

He froze, blood turning to ice in his veins, like when he dove into the frigid waters of the North Pole, swimming his way to the Spirit Oasis. 

"Uh, um, yes." He stuttered out, drawing glares and judgemental glances from the entire war council. He cleared his throat. This is what he was here for, this was the mission he'd been given. He had to sell it. "The people of the Earth Kingdom are very straightforward. They think poorly of underhanded tactics, or of overly complicated schemes." 

A chuckle passed between some of the generals following whispered comments on the supposed intelligence of the Earth Kingdom citizens. 

"Yeah, so, um, they'll be taking the most direct approach they can. Their technology is limited, since we've managed to scout their most brilliant technical minds, so we already know everything we can possibly expect. We can cut them off long before they reach our shores using the Gates of Azulon." 

Sokka had mentioned an invention he was cooking up, collaborating with an Earth Kingdom mechanist, who was ostensibly working for the Fire Nation. It would allow them to dive deep beneath the surface of the water, giving them cover and allowing them to duck beneath any sort of blockade thrown at them. He prayed the invention would work out. 

"Very insightful, Prince Zuko." The Fire Lord praised, acknowledging an encouraging murmur going up around the table. "We will, of course, still prepare for them here. Metal equipment, wooden structures, these will be our main defenses against the earthbenders. They will learn to respect our rule, or die." 

They still didn't know the invasion would involve waterbenders, so their information was dated. Based on what Azula had said, she had gathered all of this  _ before  _ her coup, and, therefore, before Sokka had concocted major revisions. 

This could work. They could do this. Zuko just had to memorize what their plans were, had to feed them bad information as possible... even without an element of surprise, this could still work. 

He took a shuddering breath. 

Azula shot him a calculating look. 

"We will reconvene one week hence. I expect updates on our progress as far as fortifications. Dismissed." 

As one, the war council rose, bowing to the royal family and filing out. Only when they had all left did Zuko and Azula follow, descending to floor level and bowing to their father before exiting the chamber. 

Zuko pulled Azula aside as soon as the curtain closed. 

"Unhand me! What is this?!" She hissed. 

He let go of her, allowing her to straighten her robes. "What was this about? I thought Dad was furious with me?" 

She hummed with disdain, still upset at the manhandling. "Why would he be angry? You performed acceptably at your showcase. He was pleased with you, enough to decide you were worthy of a second chance." 

He frowned, studying her expression, but she seemed unusually genuine. "What do you mean? He called me in after it and-" He cut himself off. They didn't talk about this, what their father did. It was easier for Azula to just  _ pretend,  _ to ignore it, to never acknowledge anything was wrong. She was a bit fragile, in that way.

"Well, I guess he changed his mind." She sniffed, disregarding his anxiety. "Everyone who attended had nothing but good things to say. Even I admitted that I was impressed, right?" 

"Right." Zuko frowned heavily, trying to parse things out through his anxiety-scattered thoughts. 

The Fire Lord had been  _ furious,  _ had been angry enough to forget a demand moments after making it, had all but  _ thrown  _ Zuko out of the audience hall, but he had declared the showcase a success, had praised Zuko during the meeting just now. 

He had  _ praised  _ Zuko, something he almost  _ never  _ did, his words after discovering Zuko had killed the Avatar once and for all being a notable deviation from the norm. 

The generals had expressed approval of his plan just before. The guests at the showcase must have done the same, gone to the Fire Lord with laud. 

"Since when has Dad cared about my public image...?" Zuko murmured, not really expecting Azula to reply. 

She pursed her lips, the paint on them sticking them together for a moment before they parted again. "You came home a hero, remember? The people love you, Zuko." She paused there, meeting his eyes, willing him to understand. "...And so does he." She finished, looking away. 

"Right."  _ That,  _ he didn't believe. "I'm going to my room." 

"Later, Zuzu." She sang, sweeping off to attend to her own busy schedule. "Oh, and don't forget your date with Mai later. She's really looking forward to the play." 

He made a noise of acknowledgement, storming away, thoughts tangled. 

What had she been getting at? Was she suggesting the Fire Lord  _ had  _ to be kind with him because the people thought of him as a hero, as she'd said? Since when had he cared? He had been confident enough to burn and banish the prince before, so what was different now? 

...The places Sokka had had him check on. The country was dying, destroying itself, the people were sick and starving and restless. 

The people loved Zuko, their hero, their Prince. 

The people  _ hated  _ Ozai. 

Well, if the man was going to go easy on him publicly, for the sake of quelling public unrest, he may as well  _ use  _ that. 

\---

The meteorite that had nearly destroyed the town just a couple nights before was now being dragged through its streets. This might be a lost cause, not knowing how sturdy metal ore mined from a space rock might be, but Piandao liked Sokka for his creativity, so he had agreed to try. 

The look on the steward's face when he opened the door to a gaggle of children surrounding a big chunk of black stone was worth all the effort of dragging the damn thing up here, if Sokka was being honest.

For the rest of the day, Sokka worked with Fat and Piandao to mine what they could from the meteorite, carefully heating, shaping, cooling, and reheating in cycles, until Piandao deemed the blade hard enough to continue. 

Sokka had been expressly instructed  _ not  _ to bend the fire in the forge, Piandao insisting that the flames needed to keep a perfectly steady heat to ensure no imperfections (and therefore weaknesses) in the final blade. It was a huge relief, Sokka having been a bit worried about how, exactly, he was going to explain the whole 'well, usually I'm not actually a firebender, so I can't really be sure when or how I'll be able to bend' thing. 

Part of him wondered if Piandao already knew, and if he was giving him an easy out. 

While the master shaped the blade, Sokka drilled forms and sparred with Fat. Finally, late in the fourth day, Piandao tested the finished, black-bladed sword, slicing through paper like nothing more than a breeze, and declared the weapon complete. 

Sokka knelt before the master, the rest of the team sitting patiently behind him, and Piandao bequeathed to him his blade. 

"You told me that you didn't know if you were worthy." Piandao said, finishing out his speech. "But I believe you are more worthy than any man I have ever trained." 

"Thank you, master." 

"Now, I have one last lesson to teach you. Draw your blade." 

What? That wasn't the end of it? 

Still, he complied, sliding the meteorite sword from its sheath. Piandao did the same with his own favored blade. 

"This time, you'll spar against me. I expect you to give it your all." 

Sokka blanched. "With real swords?! But I just saw you sharpen this thing! Are you sure?!" 

Piandao smirked. "So certain of yourself, are you? Worry about that  _ if  _ you manage to get a hit on me." 

\---

Zuko stole through the halls of the palace as darkness fell. The lack of spiritual visits was concerning, but he optimistically decided it was just more time for him to gather information before he saw Sokka next. 

He knew the guard rotation, their patrol paths, even which specific guards should be on which shifts. The perks of infiltrating a place he was actually supposed to be, he supposed. 

The Fire Lord's office wasn't heavily guarded at night, when the man wouldn't be inside. A double patrol ran through here, as it was along the main hallway, so he had half the time to get inside as he would otherwise, the second guard close on the first's heels. 

The lock was easy enough to pick, being the same style as the others in the palace, the type he'd learned to pick in the first place, and then he was inside. 

Quietly, quietly, he reminded himself, shuffling through papers and scrolls with as little rustling as he could manage. That meeting was obviously not the first they'd had regarding the invasion plans, so there should be reports here somewhere, enough to make a basic outline for what they were expecting… 

A noise from outside startled him into dropping the stack of notes he was flipping through, the fluttering of paper echoing through the silent room. 

Outside, the guard was cursing loudly, covering the muffled noise. 

Zuko sighed with relief. 

He gathered up the papers, returning them precisely to where they'd sat before. He moved on, picking the lock on the desk drawer, rifling through what was inside. A cloud of dust went up as he did so, the articles inside rarely disturbed, it seemed. No good. 

The dust tickled Zuko's nose, and he failed to hold back a sneeze. 

_ Shit.  _

Like some sort of wacky comedic moment in a melodrama play, he had given away his infiltration in the  _ stupidest  _ way possible. The footsteps of the guard approached the door, and he vaulted off the chair, off the cabinet, and into the rafters, just as the door swung open. 

"Who's there?!" The guard shouted, drawing their weapon and peeking inside. 

Zuko, grasping at the ceiling with tense limbs, flowing robes threatening to dangle dangerously, quieted his breathing as far as possible, knowing the strain of staying up here would force him to pick it up sooner or later.  _ Give up, give up!  _ He mentally chanted, nervously watching the guard poke around the dark corners of the office, investigating anywhere a thief may be hiding, never looking up. They never looked up. 

A muffled sneeze came from another room. 

"Damn, wrong room…" The guard muttered. She stalked out of the office, closing and locking the door behind him. He sighed with relief, dropping from his perch. 

"What are you doing here, Dumb-dumb?" Azula's voice whispered from behind him. 

He flinched backwards, muffling a yelp. "Azula?! How did you get in here?!" He hissed. 

"Secret passageways, remember? Oh, that's right, you never wanted to come along." She rolled her eyes. "There's a secret exit from this room into the tunnels, so that the Fire Lord can escape in an emergency situation. What, did you come in through the door?" 

Zuko didn't answer. She already knew. 

"So, I'll ask again. What are you doing here?" 

He sighed, wracking his brain for an excuse. The truth, maybe? Or at least part of it. "I came to look for more information on the invasion defense strategy. I haven't been invited to the other meetings and the briefing memo was a joke." 

She huffed, almost a laugh. "No one's been given all of the information. I believe Father's worried about spies in our midst. Since Uncle's betrayal, he's been a bit… paranoid." She admitted. 

Zuko was shocked. He  _ never  _ expected Azula to admit something like that. 

"So, I'm here for the same reason. I refuse to be taken for a fool." She glanced around the room, noticing the open drawer. "Oh, that's-"

"It was a no-go. Too dusty to be recent stuff." Zuko explained. 

She looked at him like he was stupid. "Of course it was. That's where he keeps…" She fished her manicured fingers into the dusty drawer, retrieving a sketch. It looked like the rough draft of a portrait… a familiar portrait, now that he looked more closely at it. 

"That's-!"

"Mother." Azula spat, voice acidic. It was one of the preliminary sketches for their parents' wedding portrait, Prince Ozai in his old hairpiece standing over Ursa, before she was the Fire Lady, her smile already strained and sad, as he'd always remembered it being. 

Azula's grip crinkled it, fury evident in the motion, before she remembered herself, smoothing it out and locking it away. 

"We should look elsewhere. What have you already checked?" 

Pushing the portrait and the heavy emotions it stirred from his mind, he focussed on pointing out his path to his sister. She took over searching the cabinet, while he tapped along the floor for weaknesses, at Azula's suggestion. 

Why did Ozai keep that portrait on-hand, and why was it untouched? Was he keeping it close, or hiding it away?

Was he being sentimental, or did even he have regrets? 

\---

"A pai sho tile?" Sokka asked, though the steward had already returned to the mansion after gifting it to him. 

"It's the white lotus tile!" Aang pointed out. 

"Yeah, it's Uncle Iroh's favorite piece." Sokka acknowledged, turning the tile over to look for secret messages. 

"What a weird gift." Katara mused. 

"I wonder what it means…" He murmured. He already knew the two old men were friends, Piandao had mentioned as much more than once, so it couldn't be some sort of hint to that. 

"Maybe he's trying to tell you something about Iroh, then?" Aang guessed. 

"Maybe… well, we can puzzle it out later. We're way behind schedule, and we definitely need to get back on track. Katara, where's my schedule? I need to make some major edits." 

Katara giggled at that, for some reason. "It's good to have you back." 


	31. The Beach

Sokka frowned at his schedule, scribbling notes, striking things out, reconsidering, rewriting them, then making more notes. 

He was going to need a new scroll. 

Still, they were now only two days behind the original schedule, having skipped one stop by flying a little further in one day and having massively truncated the polluted forest stop with a bit of airbending. The factory still stood, coughing out more smoke, but Aang's efforts dispersed what had been gathering. 

Guilt ate at him, knowing there was more they could have done, but acknowledging the risk was greater than they could afford right now. Better to let them think a freak storm had passed through (complete with fake rain from Katara and fake thunder from Toph) than to rouse suspicion with a string of factory sabotages. 

Nearby, in the shallow lake collected in a crater, the sounds of the rest of the team enjoying themselves carried on the light breeze. Sokka cursed under his breath, rolling up the barely-legible schedule. He had  _ warned _ them to keep it down _ twice _ already! 

There was little civilization nearby, the island mostly uninhabited, but there was a military outpost here, likely just a relay station for messages, judging by the number of hawks lazily flying around it. They couldn't afford to be careless. 

Storming over to tell them as much, Sokka caught the tail end of what had to be the  _ epitome  _ of carelessness.

Aang, stripped down to his undergarments,  _ leaping  _ up the outside of the crater in a way that had to be propelled by airbending, returning with a carefree giggle to the safety of the lake. 

_ Stupid! _

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He hissed, desperately attempting to attract the flighty airbender's attention. 

"What's wrong, Sokka?" Katara asked, wringing out her hair, brow furrowed in concern like she  _ really  _ didn't know. 

"There's a Fire Nation outpost over there! I warned you guys about it when we landed! What was he thinking?!" 

"Hey, guys!" Aang chirped, bounding over to the bickering siblings. "There are little waterfalls over there! They go right through the crater wall, and the sides are all smooth from the water! You  _ have  _ to try sliding down them!" 

"No! And keep it down!" Sokka smacked the Avatar on the shoulder. "Did the soldiers see you?" 

"Huh? What soldiers?" Aang tilted his head to the side in question. 

"What sold- ugh!" Sokka slapped a hand to his forehead firmly, dragging it down his face. "There's an outpost  _ right there _ ! Right on the other side of the cliff wall!"

"Oh." Aang finally looked appropriately guilty. 

"Yeah! Oh! Let me guess; you were hooting and hollering like a hog-monkey on your way down, and did your little airbending trick all the way back up, right?" 

The sheepish scratch through the back of his still-strange, dark hair told Sokka what he needed to know. 

He sighed, rubbing at his temples. "Okay. We need to move,  _ now.  _ Hopefully, they totally missed you, tattoos on display and airbending in full view of the spirits and everybody! Because  _ that's  _ totally likely!" 

"Sokka, you're being unfair. He was just having a bit of fun." Katara defended him, because of  _ course _ she did. 

" _ Fun  _ isn't gonna keep us  _ alive  _ right now, Katara! This is too important to throw away on something like-" 

"I'm sorry, okay! It won't happen again." Aang promised. Oh, fuck, he had tears in his eyes. 

"Well, good." He let out a heavy breath through his nose, trying to cool down. "We still have to get moving right the fuck now, though. Get Appa ready, we're going to have to keep pretty low, let the island block us from view. We can't risk getting spotted on the way up, and the cloud cover's too thin as it is. Okay?" 

They'd already risked so much, spending too much time in the same day flying. Appa was so distinctive, so visible. He'd have to readjust the schedule again, maybe plan out a different route, new hiding places. 

No time, no time! The campsite was torn down, fire snuffed and ashes scattered, saddle loaded and reins tightened. Appa stayed quiet, sensing their urgency, as he drifted, toes nearly brushing the rock, low to the ground so the soldiers wouldn't see them take off. 

It was too late, though. 

The little outpost, which saw precious little action, which had missed their entrance just an hour before, the guards too bored to constantly scan the skies, had not failed to see the young boy, loudly calling for their attention, blue arrows swirling across his skin, using an invisible technique from centuries past to flee again as soon as he'd appeared, no question as to his true identity. 

With excitement, they had sent the missive off, black ribbon tied firmly in place, the hawk bound for the Fire Palace, the message for the Fire Lord's desk. 

If the heroes had been lucky, the message would have been intercepted, would never have made it to its intended recipient. 

But they were not so lucky, and the bird continued on its way, unimpeded. It would reach the royal aviary in just two days, its message laid on an ornate desk hiding an old sketch in a dusty drawer on the third. 

The long, well-manicured fingers of the Fire Lord would grip the message tightly, furiously, flames licking at the edges of the paper, singeing it, burning away the bottom of the message. 

But the words would have already been read, been understood, been burned into the Fire Lord's eyes. 

It was already too late. 

\---

Zuko was roused too early in the morning. Having slid beneath his covers at an early hour of the morning, dangerously close to dawn, details of the strategies to repel the invasion force finally uncovered, he was still exhausted, rousing slowly, eyes bleary. 

He snapped himself to attention. It would be suspicious for him not to be alert after sunrise. 

He needn't have worried, though, considering the person who called for him at this early hour had been awake just as late as he'd been. 

"Azula? What are you doing up?" He asked, biting back a yawn. 

She quirked an eyebrow at him. Somehow, she didn't look tired at all. "It's already morning, Zuzu. The sun has risen. Or is your vision even poorer than I previously assumed? Could it be that you can't see the sunlight with your eye like that?" 

His fists clenched.  _ Don't hit your little sister _ , his mother's voice warned from his memory. 

"Yes, I know it's morning. I  _ meant,  _ why are you here bothering me?" 

"Aw, you don't want to see your dear sister first thing in the morning? I'm hurt. For my part, I miss you terribly from the moment we bid goodnight to each-" 

"Stop fucking around." He grumbled. He was getting too testy, but he was too tired to calm himself down. 

She pouted, drawing herself up to her full height. "Well. I received word this morning that we've been  _ allowed  _ a short holiday. Beginning this evening, and for the next two days, we will be expected at Li and Lo's summer home on Ember Island." 

"What?" None of that made sense. "Why are we suddenly going on vacation? And why not at our own summer home?" 

"The estate we  _ used  _ to visit, which, by the way, fell to you when Father ascended the throne, not that you ever cared, has fallen into disrepair in our long absence. There simply was no time to prepare it to a royal standard in time for this vacation to take place." She explained, looking like she'd rather be doing  _ anything  _ else. "Li and Lo  _ graciously  _ offered their own estate, instead. So, that is where we will be staying for the next two nights." 

"Okay... why, though?" 

She flicked her head as though tossing her hair over her shoulder, though her bangs simply fell back into place after she did. "I suppose Father simply believes we've  _ earned  _ the time off. It's been all work and no play for me for some time, you know, even though you had all the time in the world to screw around the past three years." 

He bristled at the implication that he'd  _ ever  _ stopped to rest in that time, like he hadn't been scraping just to survive, but he let it pass. "He's trying to push us out of the way for some reason." He concluded, instead. 

"Oh, Zuzu, don't be so paranoid." She grimaced, though, obviously agreeing with him. "Anyway, get packed for the trip. You want to be certain you have comfortable clothing." 

She turned as though to leave on that note, but paused and turned back around. 

"Oh, and I'll be inviting Mai and Ty Lee along as well. You'll get to have plenty of  _ quality time _ with your girlfriend. You can thank me later." 

\---

The tiny boat had no engine, tugged along by a manatee-whale, so the deck lurched and shivered in a fashion both nauseating and impossible to adjust to. 

"What, don't have sea-legs?" Mai mocked as Zuko tripped on the deck again. "Didn't you live on a boat for, like, three years?" 

Ty Lee giggled, perched upside-down on a railing, keeping herself perfectly balanced along with the rolling waves, toes pointed straight up. "Don't be so hard on him, Mai." She chided agreeably. "Even if he  _ does  _ make it super easy to poke fun at him." 

Zuko turned his glare from Mai to Ty Lee, earning a stuck-out tongue in response. 

"You're all acting like children." Azula sighed, rolling her eyes. 

"Uh, Azula, we  _ are _ children." Ty Lee pointed out. 

"You know what I mean." Azula insisted, pointing a sharp glare at her bubbly friend. Ty Lee, cowed, lowered herself to an upright position on the deck. "We must act according to our station, Ty Lee. As royalty, and friends of royalty, we must demonstrate to the people that we were born to rule them." 

"Oh, of course! Well said, Azula." Ty Lee praised. Azula preened. 

Zuko rolled his eyes. 

"Oh!" Ty Lee exclaimed, bounding over to the railing, peering over the splashing waves and the great head of the manatee-whale. "Looks like Li and Lo are waiting for us at the pier! Hi!" She called, waving. 

"There's no way they can hear you, yet." Mai scoffed. 

Ty Lee pouted, lowering her arm and slumping against the railing. 

"We'll be there in just a minute." Zuko pointed out. "We can greet them then." 

Ty Lee grinned at him in gratitude. 

Mai fumed. 

\---

Lo and Li greeted them warmly, showing them around their beach house, and left them with a cryptic message about the 'beach smoothing ragged edges', before sending the whole group off to the beach. 

It was... strange, being on a crowded beach like this. The twins' estate wasn't large enough to include a private beach, unlike the royal estate. Growing up, it had been just the Fire Lord's family enjoying an otherwise empty stretch of sand, while armed guards stood watch at the perimeters to keep it that way. 

Ty Lee was certainly enjoying herself, always the type to get even  _ more  _ energetic the more people she was surrounded with, and had soon attracted a small cabal of devoted servants, boys charmed by her cute face but too stupid to realize she had no interest in any of them. 

Mai, on the other hand, was downright grumpy. More so than usual, anyway. Between the heat, the noisy crowd, and the invasive sand, she had plenty of reason to be displeased, but she had taken to glaring suspiciously any time Zuko's eyes drifted away from her. Even if he just wanted to look out at the waves for a little while, letting the repetitive motion soothe him, she demanded to know what he 'thought he was looking at' with a hiss. 

So, he did his best to focus all of his attention on her. He bought her snacks (though the ice cream melted quickly, sloughing off the cone and onto her clothing) and picked up neat beach debris (she especially bristled at that), anything that would prove he was paying attention to her. 

Belatedly, he realized he'd picked up this habit, of using gifts to prove his affection, from Sokka, and relented. 

Azula was... unusually frustrated, it seemed. An annoyed Azula was dangerous at the best of times, and she seemed to be taking out her rage everywhere she went. No sandcastles were safe. Was she angry because she wasn't getting the worship she was accustomed to, since no one here recognized them as royalty without their official robes and hair pieces? Or was it... 

Mai leaned more heavily into Zuko as his gaze wandered, watching his sister stomp around, trying to draw attention back to herself again. As she did so, Azula's eyebrow twitched, and she stomped off towards a volleyball game in-session, challenging the players loudly. 

No  _ way.  _

Sokka was right. He hadn't let himself believe it, not really, hadn't let himself  _ consider _ , but... 

_ Azula had a crush on Mai.  _

"Looks like we're getting roped into that." He attempted nonchalance, but his tone was strained as he pushed Mai upright, standing to join his rampaging sister. 

Mai frowned at him, only slightly more heavily than usual, and followed suit. 

"Oh, are we playing volleyball? I love volleyball!" Ty Lee cheered, cartwheeling over to catch up. 

"We are, indeed. We will prove ourselves a ferocious team, and rise as beach volleyball legends!" Azula announced, all of her usual pomp of command sounding a bit silly when juxtaposed with the casual nature of the game she wanted to play. 

Zuko shrugged off his loose robe, freeing his arms for the match, and Mai glared daggers at the gaggle of girls giggling in response. At least there was nowhere for her to hide  _ actual  _ daggers in her beach clothes. Her bolt cuffs would get clogged with sand. 

A crowd gathered to watch after Azula's loud, cocky pronouncement, and saw the royal team demolish the competition with ruthless efficiency, breaking plenty of rules both official and unofficial in doing so, like 'be cool when you play beach volleyball, it's just for fun', for example. 

What a day. 

Zuko just wanted to go back to the beach house and go to bed early, having gotten precious few hours of sleep last night, but they were immediately accosted by a pair of boys, desperate to get Mai and Ty Lee to come to their party. Azula was offended, and the rest was predictable. She strong-armed the boys into inviting her and Zuko, as well, they arrived at the party early, and the whole thing was a disaster. 

Ty Lee had to knock out several boys, none of whom had caught on to the fact that she was not planning on pursuing any of them romantically. Mai flirted back with a guy who'd taken an interest in her, Ran Jian, in a thinly-veiled attempt to make Zuko jealous (he cottoned onto that fact too slowly for her pleasure, and she made a scene), and Azula just... disappeared, after asking for flirting advice from Ty Lee. 

"Where do you think she went?" Zuko asked, searching the crowd for her. She wasn't a particularly tall person, so perhaps he'd just missed her among the sea of faces. 

Ty Lee shrugged. "I imagine she went off somewhere with some guy." 

Zuko frowned. "Well,  _ that's  _ not like her. Maybe something's wrong." 

She giggled. "Yeah, no. I don't think that's possible. If anyone tried anything, they'd be incinerated. No one's tougher than Azula." 

"That's not what I'm worried about." She'd been in such a strange mood all day, so for her to disappear suddenly  _ now...  _

Ty Lee cocked her head to the side, considering him. The wide, searching eyes, combined with the unusual quiet, were unsettling. 

"What." He demanded, throwing a weak glare at her. 

"Oh, nothing. I just think it's sweet that you're worried about her. You two don't act like siblings often." 

"Oh." 

"By the way, what happened to Mai? You two have been totally inseparable since we got here!" The question was innocent enough, but Zuko wondered how much the other girls had told her. 

"She got mad at me and stormed off. I don't know where she went." He shrugged. It wasn't his problem anymore, surely. 

Ty Lee disagreed. "Well, then why are you still here? Go after her!" 

"What? Why would I do that?" Zuko blinked, shocked. "She said she wanted to be left alone. Said she was breaking up with me and everything." 

Hands on her hips, Ty Lee stood her ground. "She  _ wants _ you to prove you care! Letting her stew in her misery is proving you  _ don't! _ " 

"I don't think that's right. If she says she doesn't want to see me, she doesn't want to see me." He insisted. 

She groaned. "You really don't get her at all!" Ty Lee grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him out the front door. Several boys tried to stop her on the way, calling out promises to 'treat her better than that guy' and the like. "Mai can't say what she means. She can't just tell you straight out what she wants, okay? You have to actually pay attention to  _ how  _ she says things, and the context, and everything else!" 

Zuko scratched through his hair with his free hand. Loose like this, it kept getting into his eyes, obstructing his vision even further than normal. "And what makes you think that she meant the exact  _ opposite  _ of what she said this time?" 

"Because she was trying to make you jealous, right?" Ty Lee turned abruptly, meeting his eyes with a furious look. "And when you screwed that up, she stormed off! She's been trying to make you prove yourself all night!" 

"Woah, wait. Why are  _ you  _ mad?" 

"Because!" Ty Lee huffed. She turned back around, her braid swinging dangerously close to hitting him as she did. "You're screwing this up! The whole point of this is to make Mai happy, and Mai is unhappy! So  _ I'm  _ unhappy!" 

"Um..." This was a weird way to defend her friend. If she just wanted Mai to be happy, wouldn't she try to set her up with someone who  _ would  _ understand her, instead of getting mad at Zuko for  _ not _ understanding her? Unless... "Do you like Mai, too?" 

"Don't be stupid." She grumbled. "I'm going back inside. Gonna see if I can't track down Azula. Good luck, Zuko." 

He watched her stalk back into the party, suddenly becoming bubbly again the moment she stepped through the threshold, as though their argument had never happened. 

\---

Mai was on an empty stretch of beach, grabbing seashells and slamming them into the sand, attempting to shatter them and getting angry at the ones that didn't. She screamed with frustration, kicking a particularly stubborn conch into the waves, not even wincing when blood seeped from the laceration it left in the thin skin of her foot. 

Zuko approached cautiously, stepping as silently as possible along the sand, but she heard him coming from a ways off and whirled to face him, a shimmering piece of beach glass clutched between her fingers. 

"Uh, hi." He greeted with an awkward wave. 

"I thought I told you I didn't want to see you." She growled, dropping her aggressive stance in favor of searching out another shell to destroy. 

"Yeah, that's... honestly, Ty Lee suggested I follow you." He explained. 

"Oh, so you'll listen to  _ her  _ and not to  _ me? _ Is that it?" She snarled. 

Wait, shit, he fucked up. "Um, I just mean that, I was respecting your wishes and staying away, but she convinced me that what you really meant was... I can leave, if you want." He gestured back the way he'd come, allowing her the out if she really didn't want to have this conversation. 

Instead of responding to his offer, she stabbed the piece of sea glass into a scallop shell, sending its pieces skittering across the wet sand. "What am I doing wrong?" She demanded suddenly, standing and tossing aside the sea glass. It stuck upright in the sand, a danger to bare feet wandering across it. "Why is it so  _ hard  _ for you to give a shit about me?" 

"What? No, Mai, I care about you. I really do. It's just-" 

"You don't even  _ think  _ about asking me on dates until Azula suggests it. You don't know what I want until Ty Lee explains it to you. Why can't you just pay  _ attention  _ to me, why can't you figure it out on your own?!" 

"I'm trying, Mai, I really am, but you make it so hard-" 

"Oh,  _ I'm  _ making it hard?!" She rounded on him, stomping over. Her foot landed on the sea glass just barely too quickly for him to stop her. She cursed, falling to the sand and gripping the bleeding appendage with both hands. "Fuck!  _ You're  _ the one that's  _ impossible!  _ Do you think this is  _ easy  _ for me? To have to  _ pretend  _ like this? This is all for  _ you,  _ to keep  _ you  _ safe, because  _ you  _ are too big of a fucking idiot to just keep your stupid  _ eyes  _ where they're  _ supposed  _ to be! I  _ saw  _ you looking at those guys on the beach-"

"What?!" He snapped. "What the hell are you talking about?! I  _ never- _ " 

"Fine, whatever, deny it if you want to! I'm just fucking paranoid and seeing things, is that it?" 

"Yes! You  _ know  _ I wouldn't do that to Sokka-"

"Sokka? Sokka?!" She stood, unbalanced, keeping the weight off of her injured foot. He wanted to suggest she see to the wound, but she was far too worked up already. "There's the other thing! It always comes back to him, doesn't it? You can't stop fucking bringing him up! Let me tell you, it gets  _ old! _ " 

"I bring him up because he's  _ important _ to me, Mai! I've known him as long as I've known you!" 

"Why can't  _ I  _ be important to you, too, then?!" She screamed, the tears that had been threatening finally beginning to fall. "Fuck!" 

Mai dropped to the sand, hugging her knees to herself, crying into her long skirt. Zuko slowly sank down to her level, reaching out to grip her knee, providing a little bit of physical comfort, but she pushed his hand away. 

" _ Don't  _ touch me." She growled, red-rimmed eyes glaring up at him through her bangs. 

So he waited, sitting nearby while she shakily attempted to gather herself. It was... tough, seeing her like this. All of his normal methods of comforting someone, she abhorred. She hated for her weakness to be acknowledged. Even understanding that much, he couldn't figure out what she  _ would  _ accept. Should he mock her for having feelings, the way she always did to him? No, she'd just get angry about that, too, wouldn't she? 

His train of thought was interrupted by Mai's broken voice, cracking out, muffled, from behind her knees. "I bet being here, at the beach, reminds you of him, right?" A heavy, shaky breath, then she continued. "Because he's Water Tribe and all, the ocean probably makes you think of him." 

"Not really." Zuko replied, keeping his voice as gentle as he could. 

She scoffed. "Yeah, right." 

"No, really." He shook his head, looking out over the crashing waves, pointedly turning away from her to give her some semblance of privacy. "There's not exactly sandy beaches at the poles. And the waves... they don't move the same, there. I don't know if it's because it's cold, or something to do with sand bars, or what..." Sokka could probably explain it, or at least come up with a theory, if he were here. "But, really, all this beach reminds me of is... coming here with Azula and everyone when we were little." 

He heard her huff, breath still shaky. "Well, it reminds  _ me  _ of him." She spat. She sounded less muffled, like she'd lifted her head. That was a good sign, probably. "It reminds me of what I can't  _ fucking  _ have, no matter how much all of us  _ pretend.  _ I wanted you to be jealous at the party earlier, because... because I've been so damned jealous  _ all. Fucking. Day. ... _ Of someone who's not even  _ here. _ "

He didn't have an answer for that. He  _ wished  _ he had an answer for that. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, thanks." He heard her stand, hissing as she put weight on her wounded foot. "I'm gonna go find bandages. Don't follow me. I mean it this time." 

He sat, staring out at the ocean, as her footsteps receded, then stopped. 

"And one more thing- You shouldn't be so  _ buddy-buddy  _ with Ty Lee. She's been flirting with your boyfriend, you know." 

"What-?" He turned to stop her, confused, but she was further away than expected, hurrying as best she could back toward the beach house. 

What the hell was  _ that  _ about? Mai wanted to turn him on Ty Lee? Why? Was that to get back at Ty Lee, or him? 

Was she even telling the truth? It seemed like a weird thing to lie about, but it also seemed like a weird time to bring it up. 

"Ugh! Why can't I  _ get  _ her?!" He groaned to himself, flopping back into the sand. 

Thoughts and emotions roiling, he lay there, until the waves tickling the soles of his feet made him draw them back. He should get moving, go somewhere. Make sure Azula was okay, after her weird funk earlier and subsequent disappearing act. 

His feet led the way, drawing him across the beach, to a familiar, private stretch and a familiar, abandoned beach house. 

It felt like trespassing, somehow, despite knowing the place technically belonged to him, now. The floorboards creaked, every tiny motion threw up dust, and the eerie sensation of being watched by ghosts lingered. 

If only he could let go of the memories of this place, of being  _ happy _ , even so long ago, with his family. Of his father, acting like a  _ father _ , before his violence and paranoia had squashed the man he'd once been. Of his sister, tiny and fragile, splashing, uncoordinated, in the lapping waves, relying on her big brother to keep her safe, before she'd become one of the biggest dangers in his life. Of his mother... oh, Mother. What had become of her? Where was she now? Part of him hoped she was with the spirits, at least, so that he may speak with her again, someday. Between his soulmate and the Avatar, spirits were never quite so far away as they seemed. 

But she wasn't here now. The man his father had once been wasn't here. The little girl his sister had been wasn't here. 

Even he... even Zuko himself had changed beyond recognition. Was it for the better? Would the mother from his memories be proud of him now? Would she, wherever she was, whatever had become of her, be proud of him? 

Bright white moonlight streaked in through the entryway, spilling across his back, like the caress of a cool hand, drawing him out of his spiraling thoughts and back into the present. He blinked, senses returning to him, and reoriented himself. 

He had lingered too long. It was late. He should rest. 

\---

The girls had allowed him to sleep in late the next day, hitting the shops at the marketplace without him. He was almost offended to be left behind, but a greater part of him detested wandering pointlessly through shops, and was grateful to be left behind. 

Besides, if Mai was worried about doing things that might remind him of Sokka, a pointless shopping trip was the  _ last  _ thing she needed to do with him. 

Ty Lee surprised him with some cinnamon-coated pastries to wake him up with, babbling about some sort of psychic shop they'd come across during the trip. 

"And! And and and!" She babbled, too excited to string a sentence together rationally. "They have a special spirit medium that will give you a tattoo that can help lead you to your soulmate! How cool is that?!" 

Mai rolled her eyes. "We tried to talk her out of it, but she insists on going back." 

"Maaai!" Ty Lee whined. "We  _ know _ soulmates are real, don't we? You  _ can't  _ be telling me you don't believe in them now!" 

"Sure, I believe in them. I just don't believe that this random tattoo artist no one's ever heard of can  _ actually  _ help you find them." 

Ty Lee poked her tongue out in retaliation, turning excitedly back to Zuko. "Well, we can test it, can't we? If we go and your tattoo doesn't make sense, then we know they're fake!" 

Zuko shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea. If they  _ are  _ legitimate, having a tattoo like that might be... dangerous. And if they're not, I just have a really dumb tattoo." 

She frowned deeply, unsettling on her features. "Fiiine. I still want one, though, and they both think it's dumb, so you're coming with me!" 

"I'm not getting one." He insisted. 

"You don't have to! I just don't want to go alone."

"Well, you two have fun." Azula cooed. "Mai and I are going to have a spa day together." 

"Not  _ too  _ much fun..." Mai grumbled, allowing herself to be dragged off. 

"Geez, grumpy much..." Ty Lee murmured as the door closed. 

Zuko rolled his eyes, and she giggled at that. 

"Well, get dressed! Don't keep me waiting forever!" 

\---

Ty Lee gripped his hand hard enough to hurt as the spirit medium-slash-tattoo artist went to work. The artist had inhaled a concerning amount of smoke from a pot of burning herbs before beginning, but had a steady hand as she tapped the golden ink dot by dot into Ty Lee's skin. 

"Ow, ow, ow! I really didn't expect it to  _ hurt  _ this much!" She whined, but waved for the artist to continue. 

"You're getting stabbed several hundred times in the same place. Did you think it'd feel  _ good _ ?" He asked, losing feeling in his fingers. Still, Ty Lee was holding back, considering she could definitely break his hand if she used her full strength. 

"I don't know, maybe! I thought it'd be more like acupuncture!" She complained. 

"Does acupuncture feel good?" He asked, remembering dreading the experience every time the physician recommended it. 

Ty Lee frowned at this, no longer dramatically reacting to the tapping of the needle. "Well, it does afterwards. After it stops stinging so much." 

"Maybe it feels better because you forget how it felt before you got stabbed with a bunch of needles, and then you think you feel better because you're no longer being stabbed with a bunch of needles." Zuko suggested. 

She considered this for a long minute, then shrugged. "Well, all I know is it makes my aura just that much brighter, so that's gotta be a good thing, right?" 

"If you say so." 

He... wasn't really dodging the topic, so much as trying to figure out how to bring it up. If Mai had been lying to him last night, then he'd be accusing Ty Lee based on nothing, and that could upset her. On the other hand, if Ty Lee  _ had  _ been flirting with Sokka, even  _ knowing  _ who Sokka was to Zuko, then he maybe had some reason to be upset with her. Especially since Ty Lee was an objectively very pretty girl, and Sokka had certainly been attracted to other very pretty girls in the past, and maybe Zuko also had reason to be a little jealous. Certainly, his own looks left much to be desired...

Then there was the problem of knowing if Ty Lee was telling the truth. She was extremely expressive, but he knew she was even better than Azula at telling convincing lies. The two of them had talked their way out of a lot of situations where all the evidence pointed to their fault. She could look him in the eyes and tell him he was mistaken, and he'd never know one way or the other. 

So, for now, he played nice. Ty Lee was the easiest to get along with, of the three girls, especially now that Mai was an emotional wildfire where he was concerned, spitting sparks at unpredictable intervals. The next two days would be unbearable if he had no one at all to talk to, if his sister and his (ex-?)girlfriend and even Ty Lee were all angry with him.

The artist cleaned up the excess ink, applying a bandage to Ty Lee's hip, and leaving them with explicit instructions to take care of the healing skin there, or there would only be a scar left and no tattoo. 

Part of Zuko was still curious, watching the bandages cover the angry red patch with the unclear golden design within. What would his look like, should he get one, too? Would it, maybe, be Sokka's boomerang? A symbol from his tribe that meant something special to him, like the one his dad's friend had given him after dodging rocks in the rapids? Maybe it would even be a panda lily, the flower he'd used to confess his feelings. 

Well, regardless, it would either out him as...  _ defective _ , or as a traitor with ties to the Water Tribe. Too risky, by far. 

But maybe, maybe... Someday, he might return. 

\---

"You made that big stink about it, and now you won't even show us?" Azula frowned, almost pouting. 

"Yeah, what's the deal with that?" Mai sneered. 

"Well, the lady said that I have to keep the bandage on for a while, to make sure it heals!" She chirped. "I can show you guys later, okay?" 

"If you say so." Mai waved her hand, clearly not caring all that much. 

Zuko's brow furrowed. The tattoo medium had actually told her the exact  _ opposite,  _ that she should only leave the bandage on for a bit before letting the skin breathe. Ty Lee was trying to keep her new tattoo secret, for some reason. What was it? 

"Well, I'm gonna go get changed! We're going back to the beach, right?" She chirped, flipping into a handstand to return to her room. 

"Ah, you can't swim with that-" Zuko reminded her. 

"Well,  _ yeah,  _ but I like to make sandcastles! You'll all help me out, won't you?" 

Without waiting for a reply, she disappeared into the bedroom, humming as she went. 

"Not a moment of rest with that one." Azula commented, smiling almost fondly. "Well, we have tickets for the theater tonight, don't forget. We can't spend all evening in the sand." 

"Oh, yippee..." Mai cheered, bored, rolling her eyes. 

"What play?" Zuko asked, trying not to sound as interested as he felt. 

"Not 'Love Amongst the Dragons', if that's what you thought." Azula smirked. "It's some other sappy love story, though. I'm sure you'll enjoy it." 

"Not if it's the Ember Island Players..." He grumbled. 

"No, not them." Azula assured him. "It sounds like they're working on something else, in fact. Something to do with the Avatar's tale. Doubtlessly ending with our fantastic victory at Ba Sing Se." 

Doubtlessly. When the Avatar rose from the grave to dethrone the Fire Lord, the play would be rendered obsolete. Small comforts.

"From what I've heard, they're using one of my own contacts in the Earth Kingdom for information, so it should be fairly accurate to their actual journey. That cabbage merchant claimed to have seen them almost every step of the way when I hired him." 

"Fascinating..." Zuko grumbled. 

"You might even see some of your own failures reflected on stage! Wouldn't that be something." Her smirk had turned wicked, sharp eyes willing him to react. "A sort of then-and-now for you. You can see how far you've come." 

_ Don't hit your little sister,  _ his mother's voice reminded him.  _ Violence is never the answer.  _

"Well, then, I guess I am looking forward to the play tonight." 

"Oh, yeah, the play!" Ty Lee cheered, appearing from her bedroom wearing her swimsuit, complete with the conspicuous addition of a red-and-gold wrap-around skirt, one that clashed with the pink-and-white swim top. "I'll have to cut back on how big I want to make that sand castle, then, huh?" 

"Just how big  _ were _ you planning to make it...?" Zuko asked, a bit concerned. 

Mai glared over at him. Oh, yeah, he was supposed to be mad at Ty Lee. She was... jealous? Maybe? He still didn't know. 

"As big as I could! But we don't have time to really pack down the foundation, so a normal one will have to do. Come on, let's go! While the tide's still low!" 

\---

The play was an almost exact copy of the one he and Sokka had watched in Ba Sing Se, some elements switched to be more Fire Nation, of course, complete with just as awful of acting and an almost identical script. Did this troupe steal it from the other, or was this the original? It was hard to tell, the script terrifically stilted either way. 

Wait. 

Shit. 

He glanced over at Azula, dread pooling in his stomach at the realization that she was actually paying attention. She was bored, certainly, leaning her chin on her hand as she glowered at the stage, but definitely paying attention. 

The end of the first act. The princess's lines. She would know. 

_ She would know.  _

"Hey, Azula. Would you go to the concessions and get me some fire gummies? Since you're at the end and all..." He suggested, poorly feigning a casual attitude. 

"You have legs." She snapped back, still glowering at the stage. "Get them yourself." 

"Uh, but I really don't want to miss the end of the act..." He tried. 

"Then wait for the intermission." Her gaze flicked over to him for only a moment, before snapping back. 

"It'll be really busy then, though..." He argued, but paled under her glare. Shit. She was going to realize what he was up to. 

"I'll go with you!" Ty Lee cheerfully offered. "It'll be faster with two of us!" 

That... didn't really make sense, but he nodded. "Um, okay, then. Thanks, Ty Lee." 

On his other side, Mai shifted impatiently. Azula returned her gaze to the stage. 

Zuko struggled to breathe steadily, the air being sucked from his lungs with every word the actors shouted from below. They had clearly been warned that the royal box would be in use tonight, projecting especially for their seats. High and central, for the best view, it was an unnecessary courtesy, but it ensured every word was fully audible for the teenage quartet. 

"You cannot ask me to choose between love and duty!" The princess called from the stage, abandoning her peasant soulmate to his fate. "Should I abandon my country, my people, to run away together with you? Tell me, where would be the honor in that?" 

Azula clicked her tongue, expression furious, but not looking away from the actors or the stage. 

"My love!" The peasant protested. "I only ask that you do not look away from your own heart! The gift of fire which our love has bestowed upon me, this gift is from the spirits themselves!"

"It is not the spirits which govern this land, it is the law! What you have done is unforgivable. Goodbye." 

"Wait!" The actor playing the peasant shouted as the guards dragged him off. "My only crime has been to love her!"

"The penalty for that crime is death." 

With that, the curtains closed, as they had on the stage back in Ba Sing Se. The reversal of the roles, with the princess as the bender and the peasant not, made the play feel even more familiar than it previously had. And those final lines... they were meant to allude to old law, where someone low-born 'seducing' royalty could be punishable by execution, but he could only see himself now. He could only see the fate that awaited him, awaited them both, should he fuck up and reveal anything about his and Sokka's relationship. 

"Ridiculous..." Azula grumbled, sitting back in her chair to stew through the intermission. 

"You wanted to get snacks, right?" Ty Lee offered her hand, helping Zuko to stand. "Let's go! You two want anything?" 

"Pass." Mai monotoned, while Azula only met her cheerful gaze with a glare. 

"Okay, then!" 

Zuko allowed himself to be led by the wrist out of the box. 

"I didn't really want-" Zuko began, but Ty Lee interrupted. 

"Weird that Azula chose  _ this  _ play to come see. Usually, she avoids going to the theater at all." 

"Yeah, uh, she was never really...  _ into  _ it, I guess." He admitted. It  _ had  _ been a strange request. 

"I wonder if she already knew the plot. The main couple reminds me of something, I just can't... put... my finger on it." She smiled, poking him in the shoulder. 

"Yeah, I thought the same thing..." Was this a warning? Or did Azula already  _ know _ before they came here? She'd mentioned an Earth Kingdom contact in Ba Sing Se, perhaps she'd taken a look at what performances were being put on during his stay. 

"Anyway, do you  _ really  _ wanna go back in there, because I was  _ kinda  _ hoping..." 

"To ditch?" He finished.

She nodded. 

"Fuck yes. I know how this play ends, and it's not worth it." He grumbled. 

"Oh? Spoil it for me!" 

They were still inside the theater hall, attendees crowding around the concession booth. They would almost certainly overhear him, if he obliged. 

"In the Earth Kingdom version, at least, the peasant boy was a long-lost prince, after all." He told her, to the groans of several passers-by. 

"Ooh! That's a pretty worn-out trope! I see what you mean." She laughed, linking her elbow with his as they finally reached the doors. 

They weren't the only patrons filing out, though most were milling about nearby, perhaps getting some air during the intermission. They continued along the path back to the beach, back to Lo and Li's place. 

"So, why'd you steal me away?" He asked, genuinely curious. She hadn't seemed too horribly bored at the performance, and he was the only member of the group genuinely interested in theater. 

"Oh, you know." She waved a hand dismissively, then paused, bringing it back to herself slowly. "Actually, there's something I need to talk about. You're the only one that'll understand." 

He hummed in response, encouraging her to continue. 

"Not here. Not... There's a little garden on the twins' estate. That's where we're going." 

She led him there, hand in hand, until they reached a small bench overlooking the koi pond. With a wrench of his gut, he was reminded of the Spirit Oasis of the North Pole, of the sacrifices Sokka and the princess had both made there. How Sokka had first learned to firebend to save Zuko's life, and nearly died doing so. 

"Is this place... not okay?" Ty Lee asked, empathetic. 

"No, it's... it's fine. Just... reminds me of somewhere else." He shook off the memories, returning his focus to her. "What did you need to tell me?" 

"Well..." She took a deep breath, steeling herself. "It's... I asked you to come with me for the tattoo for a reason, you know. Not just because... Not just because of what I said earlier." 

She pulled her hand from his, drawing into herself, looking smaller than he'd ever seen her. 

"I was hoping, you know, that whatever I got there, it'd be... You know, most places with psychics just tell you what you want to hear, right? They make their money on drawing people in. If you tell people a difficult truth... Anyway, what I really wanted to happen was I get a tattoo that's really generic but indisputably..." 

She was having trouble stringing her thoughts together, chewing her lip hard enough to bleed. 

"I like girls. Also. I mean, I do like boys, sometimes, but mostly... girls are really, really pretty and they make me feel... I shouldn't, I know, but I thought, since you're also..." 

Zuko cleared his throat. "Yeah. I'm also." 

She nodded. 

"Show me?" He asked. 

Ty Lee took a deep breath, hands shaking as she untied the wrap skirt. The outfit she'd paired it with for the play matched it better, looking less out-of-place, but still conspicuous if you knew her usual midriff-baring style. 

The fabric slid away to reveal an angry red patch of skin, as he'd seen before, surrounding a gold shape he could now clearly decipher as-

"Kyoshi Warrior fans..." He murmured, stretching his fingers out to brush the fresh tattoo gingerly. It was sticky with some sort of healing paste, leaving the spot where he touched less glossy than the rest. 

She nodded. "We saw them on the way to Ba Sing Se, you know. We fought them over the Avatar's bison. The bison got away, which you probably know... but the girls..." 

Defeated, then. Captured, probably. "Do you know where?" 

She shook her head. "The leader would probably be sent to the Boiling Rock if she caused any trouble, but the rest could be in any war prisoner camp. I'd never know." 

"Well, shit, Ty Lee." 

She laughed wetly, tears brimming in her eyes. "Yeah. Shit is right, Zuko!" She wiped her eyes, laughter turning hysterical. "My soulmate! My soulmate's a girl and I sent her to a war prison! I don't even know which part to be more upset about." 

There was little doubt the tattoo medium was genuine, seeing this. A perfect replica of a very distinctive set of fans... no hack would dare put something so specific, and gender-exclusive, on a girl's body. 

"It's funny..." He murmured, barely audible past her hiccupping sobs. 

"Wh-what is?" She asked, forcing her tears under control. 

"There was one boy that wielded these fans, you know. Only one, in all of Kyoshi Island's history." 

Ty Lee blinked, tilting her head. "Oh? Who?" 

He smiled, though there was no happiness behind it. "Sokka." 

Her breath let out all at once, like she'd taken a punch to the gut, then the giggles started up again. "Oh, man. Isn't that a fuckin' coincidence." 

"I gotta ask..." He started, not sure how to continue. She blinked up at him, eyes still red, but the tears having stopped. "Mai said something last night, while we were arguing... I'm not sure if she was just trying to get under my skin or what, but..." 

"What? What was it?" 

"Did you really flirt with him?" He finally blurted. "With Sokka, I mean." 

"Oh!" She wiped her face, laughing again. "Yeah, yeah. I did. He's really cute, you know. Goodness, I'm super jealous. Like really, really, really, really-"

"Okay, okay, I get it." Zuko grumbled, waving her down. 

"But... you know I didn't mean anything by it, right? I wasn't, like, trying to steal your man or whatever." She looked down, staring at her fingers as she toyed with them. "You don't have anything to worry about. He's totally crazy about you, I know." 

Zuko swallowed. He knew that. It definitely made him nervous, knowing people  _ way  _ more attractive than he was were also interested in Sokka, but still... Sokka had chosen him pretty definitively, hadn't he? Back in Ba Sing Se. 

Then again... "You know he's... well, he  _ was _ ... friends with the Avatar, right?" 

"Oh!" She slapped a hand to her mouth. "Do you know what happened to him, then, after..." 

He nodded. "Some of it, at least. I know he's still safe, or he was, a couple weeks ago." 

"Is he... is he mad at you?" She asked, hesitant. 

He shrugged. "I just hope he can forgive me, someday. We both screwed over our soulmates pretty hard, then, didn't we?" 

She snorted. "You can say that again." 

The focus squarely back on Ty Lee and her own problems, Zuko breathed a sigh of relief. He'd almost forgotten he'd ostensibly betrayed Sokka back there, that the Avatar was supposedly dead. As far as anyone else should be aware, Sokka was on the run, the last hope of his 'rebellion' brought low, possibly working with the Earth King to bring down Zuko and his family. Well, parts of that actually  _ were  _ true. That didn't make it any easier for Zuko to straight out lie about it, though.    
The stupid eclipse couldn't come fast enough. He couldn't keep this up for much longer. 

\---

Zuko had bidden Ty Lee good night before Azula and Mai returned. Now, he just watched the koi in the pond dart around. There were three of them, and they didn't have a repetitive dance, and the similarities to the Spirit Oasis were superficial enough that he could push those memories aside. 

It was soothing, the way watching the turtle-ducks back at the palace had always been. One of them was eager to play with him, biting at his fingers when he tapped at the water's surface. 

Azula cleared her throat, announcing her arrival. 

"Welcome back. How was the second act?" He asked, not looking up from the pond. 

"Fine. Not that  _ you'd  _ know. Where's Ty Lee?" She demanded. 

"In bed. We had a pretty emotional talk, you know. It tired her out." 

Azula hummed suspiciously. 

"Where's Mai?" He asked before she could respond. 

"She has also retired for the evening. She was very  _ upset  _ to be abandoned in the middle of what she had been considering a pretty good date, her words." 

"Well, if you see her before I do, tell her I'm sorry." 

"I hope whatever you two left to do was  _ important. _ " Azula sneered. 

He sighed. "Ty Lee wanted to talk. You intimidate her and Mai sucks with feelings, so she stole me." 

"Talk? What about?" She demanded. 

He searched for something reasonable. "Oh, um, I shouldn't say much, since she told me in confidence but... it had to do with, you know, her identity issues to do with her sisters. She's been over it before, but I guess it just... something reminded her, tonight." He shrugged. 

Azula seemed unimpressed. "Well,  _ I  _ wanted to speak with you, as well." 

Here it comes. He was going to be outed as a traitor and then good-bye  _ life. _ She'd kill him in an instant. He hoped the lighting redirection would still work with his inner fire still elusive, as Uncle had believed. 

She sat beside him, tugging her skirt beneath her. "Don't think I didn't notice you trying to force me out of there, before the first act ended." She snipped. 

Fuck. He'd been too obvious. "I don't know what you mean." He choked out, unconvincingly. 

She rolled her eyes. "You do. You've seen that play before, haven't you?" She accused. 

This was the end. He should just give it up now. "I... was familiar with it, yes." 

She sighed, pursing her lips in that way she'd developed. "I know why you didn't want me to see that scene... It was really very similar to..." She cleared her throat. Her tone was weird, genuine and soft rather than angry, and he was uncertain how to respond. "I want you to know that I am very glad you chose the right thing, in Ba Sing Se. I know how difficult it must have been for you. I downplayed your sacrifice before, and for that I am... sorry." 

Azula? Apologizing? "Thank you." He replied hesitantly.

She nodded once, firmly. "As well you should." She stood, brushing her skirt off. "Well, remember it as a warning, then. You know what will happen if anyone... Well. Just be careful." 

"I will be." He replied, masking his shock. She had recognized the similarities, but not the  _ exact fucking line  _ he had lifted wholesale? The spirits must be smiling on him, after all. He sent thanks up to the moon, to the Northern Water Tribe princess. 

"Is... I must ask, is that how your... Is that how he can bend fire? I thought it unusual, but..." 

He shrugged. "He said he didn't like this explanation for it, when we watched the play together." He admitted. She hummed. "Apparently, his people say soulmates get their bending from the spirits, during their time of need." 

She scoffed. "Well, that's just ridiculous." 

"Maybe. Isn't it just as ridiculous for a Water Tribesman to have latent firebending?" 

She frowned, eyebrows drawing together. 

He stood, as well, brushing himself off. The damp moss had soaked the rear of his pants uncomfortably. "Maybe the Fire Nation doesn't have all of the answers. That's all." 

\---

The next day, they packed for their return, Ty Lee with a new bandage freshly applied to her hip, hiding the incriminating ink. 

Mai had relented, apparently having had a heart-to-heart with Azula in-between, and had returned to playing the dutiful girlfriend again. 'As long as you do your part, too,' she'd made him promise. He'd agreed. 

The trip home felt horribly short, after the sense of freedom and vulnerability they'd all found on Ember Island. They all parted ways, Zuko promising Mai to send a messenger over as soon as he knew his upcoming schedule, and that he would have something really good planned. 

"I'll hold you to that." She'd smiled, tiny as it was, as she departed to her father's estate, so near to the palace grounds. 

And then it was back to life in the palace as usual. He and Azula each found their own suites, unpacked their things, and bathed away the last of the sand and salt from the retreat. 

For all they hadn't wanted to go on that vacation in the first place, Zuko felt it really had done them a world of good. 

Now, he just needed to find out  _ why,  _ find out what his father had wanted to do, why he had needed his children out of the palace to do it. 

The stakes for remaining ignorant were far too high to ignore. 


	32. The Avatar and the Fire Lord

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay on this chapter!! i got my fire lord zuko cosplay done and i started getting into batman comics but i managed to write this eventually!! big canon divergence now babey here we go

Being called before the Fire Lord had not grown any easier in the time that Zuko had been home, and he had already been a mess when he'd received the summons this time. He tried to push the thoughts of the war meeting out of his head, knowing he would need his wits about him for this encounter, but his mind insisted on replaying the events of the previous day on an infinite loop, despite his wishes. 

Foolishly, he had tried to deter talk of continued war efforts in the Earth Kingdom, citing the progress they had already made and the stubborn, unrelenting hope of the people there, but his words had only given his father and sister the idea to redouble their efforts, formulating a mad plan to burn and destroy the entire damned continent, planning to level it and start anew. There could be no resistance, after all, if there were no people left to resist. 

Another damned genocide. It was stupid, it was foolish, and it was nauseating.

And Zuko had done  _ nothing  _ to stop it. 

Now, his father had summoned him to the audience chamber again. What would he have to say? Would he condemn him for his favorable words towards the Earth people? Or would he praise him for the idea, for setting the spark for what he undoubtedly considered a glorious conquest? 

Which would be worse? 

Zuko hesitated as he reached the curtains separating the chamber from the rest of the palace, hand shaking as he reached for the fabric barrier. What if he just... ran away? Bolted, here and now, abandoned Sokka's plan for subterfuge, which had been on unsteady ground due to their lack of communication already, and simply... fled? 

The guard at the entrance cleared his throat, and Zuko flinched. No, he needed to just get on with it. He wouldn't be a coward. He would face his father and whatever words he had for him, and he would continue on as before. There wasn't too much time left before the eclipse, he could make it. 

He stepped through the hanging curtains, feeling them catch on his armored shoulders as he pushed past, and stepped forward, the sound of his boots echoing through the spacious hall. 

Immediately, he knew something was terribly wrong. The room wasn't as empty as it usually was when he arrived. Normally, the Fire Lord confronted him all alone, just the two of them, so that no secrets would get out among the chatty guards. Fire Lord Azulon had usually allowed a small contingent, for safety, but Ozai, through a mixture of hubris and paranoia, had banished them from the room. 

Today, guards lined both sides of the chamber, forming a human pathway direct to the throne. 

Zuko strode on, head held high, despite the dryness of his throat. He held his hands stiffly behind his back to mask their shaking, and struggled to keep his breath even. 

Reaching the front of the hall, near enough for Ozai to make himself heard, far enough from the entrance to make escape impossible, Zuko knelt. 

"Prince Zuko. I have received some troubling news. You see, I was so shocked, when I first received word, I assumed the report was false. After all, word rarely arrives from this particular outpost, so perhaps they were simply bored, and sending prank letters. Naturally, I followed up the report by sending scouts, asking for confirmation of the news. Now, with their reports coming in, confirming what I had already heard, I can no longer deny what I know to be true." 

The Fire Lord stood. The flames surrounding the throne split, like the sea just prior to a tsunami, building at the edges of the room and allowing the Fire Lord passage down the steps. He approached, slowly, taking confident steps in time with his words. 

"Prince Zuko, you have lied to me. You failed to complete the mission I had given to you, and you spewed falsehoods in a vain attempt to regain your honor. I know, now, that you are entirely honorless, and always will be. The Avatar is alive, and, instead of delivering him to me, you spun a fable for the entire nation that our last great threat had fallen. This blatant act of treasonous intent can only be met with one punishment." 

Zuko couldn't breathe. How did he know?! Surely, the Avatar and his friends had been careful, had kept to the carefully tailored plan he had helped Sokka with. Unless... unless Zuko's intel had been wrong, and one of the places he had sent them had been unexpectedly dangerous. 

Fire Lord Ozai stood over him now, lifting a hand in a command. The guards lowered their spears, taking a step forward, closing in on the two of them. 

"For the crime of aiding and abetting a known enemy of the crown, and for knowingly breaking the terms of your banishment, you will be sentenced to death. Take him away." 

No. No, no, no, no, no! 

The guards stepped closer, forming a tight circle. Zuko stood, eyes wild, glancing around the room. No breaks in formation, too much distance before the door. More guards stationed outside. The Fire Lord himself, only paces away, a far more powerful firebender than Zuko himself could ever so much as hope to be. 

How would the Avatar escape? Surely, he would be able to. He'd faced odds like this and slipped through, always as elusive as the wind itself. How would he do it? 

Moving fluidly, he flipped himself over the wall of spears, rolling over them and into the line of guards. As they moved to follow, he jammed a quick fist into the vulnerable side of the guard nearest him, between where the chestplate ended and the waist armor began. The guard groaned, leaving his grip loose enough for Zuko to snag his weapon. 

He was untrained with a spear, but he'd adapted to a new technique mid-battle before. He could do so again. He knocked aside the advancing weapons, clearing a path for himself towards the exit. 

A stream of flame licked out past his left ear, roaring, hot, and disorienting him. 

"A coward to the end! Stand, and face your punishment!" 

Zuko almost barked out a laugh at that.  _ Stand, and let us kill you.  _ As Sokka would say, fat chance. 

Using his superior dexterity, coupled with the fact that he was still significantly shorter than most of these men, Zuko slipped beneath the line of spears, charging into the knees of the guard nearest to blocking the line to the door. He buckled, falling into the guard next to him, as Zuko rolled forward, gaining momentum for a dash forward. Bursts of flame rocketed forth, crashing to the ground near his feet, unbalancing him momentarily, but he continued on, quickly adjusting his form to bounce over the skittering embers. 

Dozens of feet pattered behind him, a cacophony of shouts filling the air. Even if he made it to the exit, there were more guards beyond. 

He'd never make it. 

Distracted, attempting to plan ahead rather than remaining in the moment, Zuko failed to dodge a rogue swipe, a guard thrusting out wildly to try to stymie his advance. Blood pooled from the shallow gash in his side, startling him long enough for another spear to jam forward, cutting deeply into his thigh. 

He buckled, crashing to the ground, crying out in pain. 

A ring of spears pointed at him. He stayed down. 

"A foolish attempt, but it makes no difference. Make sure his cell is far away from my traitor brother's. I'm certain they were in collusion on this." Ozai was panting as he gave the order, out of breath from the chase. Zuko allowed himself a moment of pride. He may have royally screwed himself over, but at least he made the bastard work for it. 

The guards lifted him by the biceps, jostling his injured side, forcing him to stand on his injured leg. He hissed, drawing a sharp breath between his teeth, just to keep from crying out. 

"And Zuko?" His father added as he was dragged away. "You don't need to worry. The execution will be swift. I am, as always, quite merciful." 

Zuko spat at his feet. 

\---

Bruised and bloody, Zuko was tossed into a dirty cell, the cage slammed shut, two guards remaining to watch over him. Disoriented from blood loss, he couldn't quite figure out where, exactly, he'd been taken, but he could, at least, estimate that it was much closer to ground level than his uncle's room. He wondered if he would be given medical attention, or just left to bleed out. His father would want a public execution, right? So, it stood to reason that he would want to keep him from dying now. 

Unfortunately, he knew exactly what kind of medical treatment his father deemed 'necessary'. The poorly-stocked medical cabin on his ship was a testament to that. He had been lucky his uncle's healer friend had been so skilled, that he'd been young and stubborn and relatively healthy beforehand. Here and now... if he survived the loss of blood, he'd still have to deal with the threat of infection. If he was supposed to be executed 'quickly', though, thanks to his father's idea of 'mercy', an infection may not even have time to kill him. 

His vision was swimming. He couldn't wait for the remote possibility of a healer coming to tend to him. 

Chest tight, as though the air was having trouble permeating his lungs, Zuko struggled to lean forward, desperately trying to shuck his pants. They clung wetly to his skin, damp with blood, tugging against the fresh wound painfully, where the fabric had been forced beneath the skin by the blade. 

Tearing away the garment had pulled away what little clotting had managed to begin, and the wound wept anew. Zuko pressed a clean section of the pants tightly to the injury, trying to catch his breath long enough to think clearly. He could destroy his own clothing to make bandages, but he'd run into the same problem, again, if he didn't slow the bleeding beforehand. Fire could close a wound, right? Cautery, that was the word. 

He hadn't studied any healing, wasn't sure how a medic would go about doing this, but there were torches on the wall and, despite his cursed weakness, he  _ was  _ still a firebender. He drew on the weak, flickering flames, dancing them into the cell and allowing them to flit among his fingers. They were warm, almost tickling, and he savored the feeling for a moment, forgetting himself, concentration becoming increasingly difficult. 

Blinking back to reality, he lowered his flame-coated hand to his injured leg, drawing in a deep breath to prepare himself for the inevitable pain. He knew  _ exactly  _ how much this was going to hurt. 

His screams echoed along the corridor as the fire met his skin, searing closed the bleeding vessels, hungrily spreading beyond the wound to the rest of his leg. Quickly, he doused them, leaving his skin raw and painful, choking out desperate sobs. The pain of the burn, the scent of it, it awoke  _ those  _ memories with a startling clarity, as though he'd been transported through time back to the exact moment. Phantom pain laced through his face as it hadn't done in a long while. 

He still had another wound. He couldn't be finished. 

He'd barely begun unbuckling his armor from his torso, struggling with the straps, disoriented and unpracticed, when the guards stormed in. 

"What the hell is going on in here?" One demanded of him, holding the spear out menacingly. 

Zuko blinked at the weapon, heart racing, but too groggy to react. 

"Wait, what's that smell?" The second wrinkled his nose, scanning the room, before noticing the extinguished torch. His eyes widened, connecting the dots. "Shit. Give me the key, we need to restrain him!" 

The door was open and his hands forced behind him before he had time to grasp what was happening. He hissed as his wounded side was twisted, tugging at the shallow gash there. He still needed to patch that one up, he couldn't be restrained now! "What are you doing?!" 

"What are  _ we  _ doing?!" The guard at his wrists asked, incredulously. "We're stopping you from hurting yourself! What are  _ you  _ doing?!" 

"I'm not-" He yelped, his arms pulled together into shackles behind his back. "I'm bleeding, damnit!" 

"You're-" The other guard finally noticed the dark spot on his robe, the blood still clinging to the naked skin of his leg. "Oh, shit. Shou got him  _ good."  _ He commented, lifting the discarded pants. 

"Can you  _ please  _ get me a medic, instead of whatever the hell this is?" Zuko snapped, struggling weakly at the shackles. His limbs felt leaden, heavy, like he was underwater, fully armored, like he'd just dived into the sea during a storm... 

He blinked back awake. His attention was drifting again. 

"Go get the healer. I'll keep an eye on him." The guard at his wrists ordered. The other nodded, dropping the pants absentmindedly, running off without closing the cell properly. A part of Zuko noted that, noted the distance between himself and his way out, noted the strength of the grip the guard had on him. 

Another part, a more rational part, reminded him he was in no shape to attempt a breakout now. 

"Come on, sit down." The guard ordered, and he obeyed. "No need to fuck yourself up more than you already have, yeah?" 

Zuko grumbled. "I was  _ taking care of it  _ before  _ you _ came in and made it  _ worse _ , you know."

"Yeah, right. Setting yourself on fire was 'taking care of it'." The guard rolled his eyes. 

"It's called cautery. It's a real thing." He insisted. His words were slurred. Consciousness was getting harder to maintain. 

"I'm sure it is." The guard agreed, placating, patronising. "Well, a  _ real  _ healer will be here, soon, so you don't have to take things into your own hands, okay? We'll get you patched up." 

Zuko snorted. "Yeah, gotta make sure I'm good and healthy for when I get killed, right?" 

The guard's jaw tensed. "Right." 

There was a terse silence. The guard could no longer meet his eyes, hovering just nearby, uncertain. 

"You know-" He started, biting at the inside of his cheek before continuing. "You know, I don't much like this. I don't think it's right."

"Thanks." Zuko bit out, tone dry. 

"The Fire Lord... well, it's not really my place to say, but I think he goes too far. I really do." The guard admitted. 

Zuko flicked his gaze up, eyes sharp, despite the darkness swimming at the edges of his vision. "Then do something about it." 

Something pained flicked across the man's face. "I can't. You  _ know  _ I can't. That man... he's your  _ father,  _ and he's willing to do... Someone like me could  _ never. _ " 

"It's people like you that give him all that power. What would he be able to do if no one followed his orders?" Zuko asked, pointedly. 

"I, uh, I guess I never thought of that before. But, like, he's special, right? Descended from Agni, and all that. What choice do we have?" 

"If he's descended from the spirits, then I am, too, right?" Zuko pointed out. "And you all made me bleed, threw me in here. You plan to  _ kill  _ me, on  _ his  _ orders. Aren't I a descendant of Agni, too?" 

"Well-" 

"And my uncle, the Dragon of the West. He's a prince, himself. His father was the last Fire Lord. Is he not a descendant of Agni, as well? Abandoned, humiliated, left to rot in here and endure whatever you assholes throw at him? Doesn't he have the same blood?" 

"That's-" 

"If you can excuse your loyalty to my father by his bloodline alone, why doesn't that apply to the rest of the family? What makes him so special, so powerful, so frightening?" Zuko built up his fury as he went, the anger fueling him on. With the burst of adrenaline, he was able to rise to his feet, pain and delirium forgotten. "Shouldn't you be  _ afraid  _ of what I can do, too?" 

"That's enough!" A new voice called out, and Zuko stumbled, startled. "You shouldn't be up and about! Come on, come on, sit!" 

The medic had arrived, clad in crisp robes, a heavily-laden messenger bag swinging at her side. She pushed Zuko by the shoulders to sit on the low cot, the metal frame digging into his fresh burn harshly. At his hiss of pain, she apologized, turning him to lay down, lifting the injured leg. 

She tutted, inspecting the wound. "An amateur cauterization, huh? You firebenders are always trying these, and it never works the way you want it to." 

"Well, so _ rry _ . I didn't want to bleed out in this fucking cell." Zuko snapped, sneering at her. 

She leveled an unimpressed look at him. "Really, I should have been informed  _ much  _ earlier. It's a good thing you  _ haven't  _ burned this other one. It would make it so much harder for me to  _ stitch  _ it properly. What did you even do to yourself?" 

"He tried to escape." The guard who had fetched her explained. "New guy got a little overzealous about stopping him." 

"Ugh, you boys and your weapons." The healer rolled her eyes. 

"Sorry, I'll remember to sit tight and let myself be killed next time. Don't want to  _ inconvenience  _ you by trying to fucking live." Zuko growled out at her. 

Her expression hardened. "You betrayed us all by letting the Avatar live, and now he's here in the homeland. Do you even know how many of  _ our people  _ are going to be slaughtered because of you? Those rebels will stop at  _ nothing  _ to see our great nation fall, and  _ you  _ have allowed them a golden opportunity to do it." 

She was less than gentle as she applied the alcohol antiseptic, sending burning pain lacing up from his injuries. She glared at the needle as she prepared the sutures, looking dangerously like she wanted to use it as a weapon. 

Zuko looked up at the ceiling, afraid to see the hatred in her eyes any longer. "You're wrong." He claimed, and swallowed at the sound of her huff. He couldn't stop, though. He hadn't stopped them at the war meeting, but he would sure as hell use his words, now. "The Avatar is a pacifist. He's twelve fucking years old, you know that? All he wants is for people to stop  _ killing  _ each other." 

"You really believe that?" The healer demanded, harshly stabbing the needle through his skin. Her touch turned gentle, careful, as she continued, voice as carefully level as her hands. "I'd heard you were  _ at  _ the North Pole for the siege. You would have seen first-hand the destruction he caused there. How many people died,  _ our  _ people. Proud Fire Nation soldiers, fighting for the glory of their nation. So many of them were slaughtered in an instant by the Avatar's power. You think he won't do the same here?" 

Zuko thought of the young, bright-faced boy, skin covered in warrior's tattoos, who refused to go on the offensive, no matter how serious his opponent, who had all the powers of all the elements at his disposal, but only defended and evaded and deflected. He recalled his constant hesitance in battle, his single-minded desire to protect his friends, to spare his enemies. 

"I know he won't." He replied to her question, finally, with complete certainty.

"Then you're an idiot." The healer accused through gritted teeth. Sutures complete, she bandaged his wounds, tying the bandages off firmly, fury still in her eyes. "I'm done here. Your father wants you to serve as an example for any other nut-brained idiots who want to destroy us from the inside out. You need to stay alive and healthy long enough for that. I want you to see your punishment. It's the  _ least  _ you deserve." 

She gathered her things back into her bag and stormed out, the guards close on her heels. The guard who had stayed behind with him, who had voiced his regrets, was the one to lock the door. He hesitated there, looking at Zuko, lain out on the cot.

Zuko didn't meet his gaze. 

Finally, the guard left, returning to his post just outside the room. 

Left alone at last, Zuko allowed himself to drift into a fitful slumber. 

\---

Hours turned to days turned to an endless expanse of time Zuko could not track. Despite the healer's efforts, he could feel himself warming up with a fever, a sure sign of infection. The burned skin on his thigh tugged stiffly, sending spikes of pain at the smallest of movements. He could feel the individual stitches pull when he twisted his side. He tried to keep his torso relatively static. 

Through it all, guards came and went, delivering food, collecting the trays. Some were kind, like the one from before, or the one he recognized from his uncle's cell. Some were cruel, mocking him, berating him, as angry as the healer had been at his treason. 

He lost track of them, their names and faces, how often they came or went. It couldn't be much longer, could it? His father wanted him executed before the eclipse, surely. If it was longer than that, the invasion force would be able to rescue him. Had it been long enough for the eclipse to be approaching already? Had the solstice passed, yet? 

It was sudden, unexpected, the day the guard came with news instead of breakfast. "Today's the day, Your Highness." The man sneered, enjoying his task. "I hope you enjoyed the sunrise, since it's the last you'll get to see." 

\---

Zuko was bathed and dressed by a heavily-guarded team of servants. His execution was to be a public spectacle, after all, so the main entertainment needed to be  _ presentable _ . 

Damn his father's constant  _ obsession  _ with ' _ presentable'! _ This whole ordeal was painful and humiliating, being made to feel like he was being prepped like a prized cow-pig, all while the oiled bathwaters stung at his still-healing wounds. His hair was pulled down, washed, his flame ornament polished, and his topknot tugged back into place. His scar was allowed to stand out starkly against his face this time, unlike that stupid showcase, boldly marking him as a disgrace to the throne he claimed. 

He was dressed all in black, ceremonial robes reserved for just this purpose, dark so the blood wouldn't show. He would be beheaded, of course, right after he was handed a knife and ordered to commit ritual suicide. Even if he failed to do so, with honor, the blade would still remove his head from his shoulders. Thus, the topknot, keeping his hair from getting in the way of a nice, clean cut. 

A swift death. A mercy. 

From the bathing room, he was brought to a small chamber, with guards outside, and told to wait. He would be announced, his executioner introduced as his 'second', the 'partner' for his suicide. Pomp and fanfare, all those people just outside, waiting excitedly to watch their prince die. 

It was a good thing he'd been denied breakfast, though he knew that was just to avoid a mess when he sliced his own stomach open. He was sure he'd have thrown up anything he ate onto these nice execution robes if he'd eaten anything. 

Time ticked on, and Zuko's nerves grew worse, until a small noise made him startle so hard he yelped and fell into the wall. 

"Shh!" Came a voice from the wall. "Keep your voice down!" 

"Who...?" He glanced around, seeing no one. He was alone in this room. 

The wall shifted slightly, revealing a small, dark opening, through which a nose poked. "Don't shout, okay? We don't want to alert the guards." 

He nodded, then realized this person probably couldn't see him through the wall. "Okay. Who are you?" He whispered. 

The rest of the face followed the nose through the opening, revealing a girl his age, with soft brown eyes. "I'm Hana. I'm here to rescue you." 

"Oh. Nice to meet you. I, uh, you already know who I am, I guess." Zuko responded awkwardly, rubbing at the base of his neck. 

She giggled. "I do. Come on, we don't have any time! We need to get out of here!" 

Without hesitation, he followed her. She grabbed at his arm and tugged him into the secret passage, sealing the wall behind her, and forced him into a quick pace down the narrow hall. 

"Hey, slow down, please." He gasped out, feeling the edges of the burn on his thigh tug painfully. 

"No time, no time! They'll realise you're gone, soon!" She insisted, tugging him along even faster. 

He did his best to push past the pain, but the burning of severed nerves only increased. "I'm injured!" He finally bit out, pulling his arm away to slow his pace. 

"You're what?! What did they do to you?!" She worried, checking him over. 

"When they arrested me. It's healing, but..." 

She chewed at her lip, glancing behind him. "Oh, we really don't have time for this... how much do you weigh?" 

"Uh..." He didn't have a good guess for her. His past several months had swung between harsh training regimens and literal starvation, and he had no idea how much weight he may have gained or lost at any point. 

"Whatever, just hop on." She turned, crouching, hands posed to carry him piggy-back. 

He hesitated, taking notice of her size, but supposed they had little choice. "I'm sorry about this." 

"Why are  _ you  _ apologizing?" She laughed. 

He finally obeyed her instruction, allowing her to heft him onto her back. She grunted with effort, but valiantly stayed standing. "Okay, let's go!" 

Her hands gripped painfully at his burn, but they had little choice. She was able to walk at a steady pace for a good distance, taking them both through the winding corridors of the passageway. They weren't safe here, Azula would be able to track them down. She knew all of the passages, was able to traverse the castle, unseen, in an instant. She would have undoubtedly been at the execution, excited to see her traitor brother felled, and would have known immediately how they escaped. 

There was no time. 

"Where are you taking me?" He asked, tilting his head away so he wouldn't be speaking directly into her ear. 

Huffing with exertion, Hana replied. "Oh, me and my people have a secret base. We just gotta get out of the palace grounds, first, then we can take it easy. There's a fake grain cart set up in town, it'll take us right to the base!" 

Zuko recalled hiding in giant flower pots all the way to Ba Sing Se. It had been less than comfortable, leaving all his joints aching for days afterward. 

"Who are your people?" He asked, instead of voicing his complaints. 

"There's a group of us who aren't happy with the way this Fire Lord is doing things. When we heard what was going on, the boss went totally crazy. She seemed like she was ready to tear him apart herself. We talked her down from storming the palace, but just barely." 

A secret order of rebels. Strange, that they should be on his side. 

"If you're not happy with the royal family, why are you helping me?" 

She hummed. "Actually, a lot of us were against this, at first. But the boss insisted, and a lot  _ more  _ of us are actually big fans of you, you know? I always thought you seemed like a pretty good guy." 

"Uh, thanks, I guess." It worried him, definitely, that he was being taken to a place where 'a lot' of the people would have liked to see him executed. Still, he was being taken  _ away  _ from a place where every single person was there for the express purpose of seeing him die, so he supposed it counted as an improvement. "Is that why you were sent to get me?"

She shook her head, shoulder-length hair fanning out and spraying into his face with the vigorous motion. "No, I was sent because I work in the palace already. Easy enough to get in if I'm  _ supposed  _ to be here, right?" 

Recognition finally hit him. "You work in the kitchens, right? You're the one that makes the really good buns." 

That drew another laugh out of her. "Aw, I'm glad you like them! I just really like kneading dough. Helps me work out my stress." 

"Guess that's how you're in such a good mood about all of this." He commented. 

"Yep! That's me! Always trying to think positive! And right now, I'm  _ positive  _ that this is our exit!" She let go of one of his legs to slide a hidden mechanism and push open the wall, filling the passage with blinding sunlight. They'd ended up right beside a guard tower on the outer wall, looking out right into the capitol city beyond. 

Zuko breathed a sigh of relief. They'd made it this far. Escape was really, really possible. 

Distantly, they heard the sounds of chaos and clamor, as those they left behind searched wildly for the missing prince. 

"Where's the cart? We need to get out of here, fast, before Azula finds us." Zuko urged, lowering down to his own two feet. They'd be far too noticeable if she carried him much further. 

"Azula? Why would the princess be the one following us?" Hana asked, curious. 

She really didn't know. "She knows all the secret passages! She'll know exactly where we went!" 

"Your sister would really-" Hana cut herself off, shrinking in on herself. "Oh, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, considering..." 

"The point is, she definitely knows where we are already. We have to be fast. Where is it?" 

The good cheer had left the poor girl, leaving her looking a bit harried, distressed. "It'll be nearby, somewhere inconspicuous. Just follow me, we'll find it." 

" _ Find  _ it?!" Zuko was about ready to tear his hair out. His fingers brushed the flame ornament around his topknot, and he pulled it out, letting his shaggy hair fall, loose, around his face. "Come on, I'll lead the way, then." 

"What? Oh, okay!" Hana seemed a bit relieved to find him taking charge, falling into step behind him as he limped ahead. 

Finding things was definitely his specialty. 

\---

The grain cart was, as promised, inconspicuous. It sat where one would be expected, and had no outward signs of anything odd about it. Inside, though, the piles of sacks hid human-sized crates, spacious enough for two teenagers to fold themselves in, waiting for the cart to be dragged away. 

As they'd searched, the shouting of the guards had drawn ever closer, until they'd overheard an interrogation taking place just around the corner from their destination, but their head start was plenty long, and they'd made it without any hangups whatsoever. 

It was, frankly, unnerving. 

Azula should have known long before they'd made it out where they would be. She should have been able to follow them, to intercept them, to predict their path. 

Zuko should be in chains again already. 

How had they evaded her? Was the passage they'd chosen secret even to her? Had her explorations of the palace been less thorough than he'd thought? A passage that led outside the walls certainly seemed like the kind she'd have intimate knowledge of, but had they gotten lucky?

Or was she really... Had she, perhaps, just  _ let  _ him go? 

The cart jostled, being hooked up to a pair of ostrich-horses. A kindly, elderly voice talked to them softly, calming the beasts. An authoritative voice cut in, asking questions about a high-profile fugitive, and the kindly voice evaded with an impressive politeness, sending the other on his way. 

Some minutes later, the cart jolted into movement. 

"Well, here we go!" Hana whispered, voice barely audible over the clattering of the wheels. "How are you feeling?" 

"Nauseous." Zuko admitted. It had been a stressful morning, he was fairly certain he was still fighting off something nasty from his spear wounds, and the bumping and swaying of the cart wasn't helping at all. "I'm grateful, though. Thank you for rescuing me." 

"No problem!" She grinned. "But you should really save all your thanks for the rest of the group. I'm basically just the delivery girl, you know." 

"Still." He insisted. 

"Well, then, you're welcome! I'm only sorry I couldn't, y'know, deliver you in one piece." She frowned, glancing down at his leg. 

He shrugged, feeling for the bandages beneath his dark clothing. "It was my own fault, I guess. Stupid, really." 

She hummed. "I dunno. I think you're pretty brave. Stubborn, maybe, but in a good way. I hear good things, you know? From my people, from the other palace staffers... Everybody has good things to say about you. It's embarrassing, but I always wanted to meet you. I was kind of excited to do this mission, except, like, the part where if I screwed up you would die." 

"Well, uh..." He stuttered, awkward as ever. "Here I am." 

"Yep! Here you are! I didn't screw up and you didn't die! I, uh, didn't really plan this next part out, though. The part where I, you know, have to figure out what to say to you when I actually do meet you." 

Zuko shrugged. "That's alright. I'm probably not exactly what you expected, anyway." 

"No, you're not." She agreed, and he flinched. "But maybe that's a good thing. You're, like, the future Fire Lord, yeah? I think I was a little afraid you'd be, y'know, like your dad. But you're not. You're just... a regular kid, just like me. Well, you know, not  _ just  _ like me, that's probably treason to say that." 

"No, no, it's... I take it as a compliment. Not being like my dad." 

She relaxed, breathing out a derisive laugh. "Yeah, I guess that doesn't surprise me." 

A silence fell over them both, almost comfortable, until Hana broke it again. Her discomfort with silence was so like Sokka it left him feeling a bit wistful. She chattered about this and that all the while, keeping her voice fairly low, as the cart continued on. Zuko, a terrible conversationalist at the best of times, did his best to keep up, to not sound quite as awkward as he felt, but his responses were still clipped, short. She didn't seem offended, though, forging on ahead, and for that he was grateful. 

It was a long while before the cart reached their destination, its passengers not allowed outside to so much as stretch their aching legs, for fear of being spotted. Zuko was, as always, far too recognizable. 

Finally,  _ finally,  _ the ostrich-horses stalled, whinnying their protest, and a series of knocks sounded on the side of the cart. 

"That's our cue!" Hana whispered, scrambling out of their crate and off the back end of the cart, holding out a hand to help Zuko straighten himself. His leg protested, already aching from the running and the pressure from being carried, now stiff from disuse. Hana had a steady grip, though, and he accepted her aid. 

"Welcome, Prince Zuko." The owner of the kindly voice from before greeted him, belonging to a hobbling, elderly man in peasant's garb. "There's someone who is very anxious to meet you inside. Let's not waste any time." 

Zuko allowed himself to be led, striding through the halls of the quiet little tavern, until they reached a trapdoor in the storeroom. It was all very clichéd, but he supposed all tropes had to have  _ some  _ basis. Hana hovered close by as he climbed down the ladder, keeping a close eye on his movements. He almost regretted telling her about his injuries, hating to be mother-henned, even if he knew her intentions were good. 

The ladder ended in a simple little basement, and there was yet another secret door leading further in, an added layer of surreptitiousness to ensure the compound remained clandestine. The compound itself, once you were able to reach it, was grandiose, sprawling. He wondered when it had been built, what it had been intended for. If it was housing an anti-Ozai faction, he had only been Fire Lord for the past five, almost six years, far too short a time for the group to be organized and a compound of this scale built. Perhaps they had originally been against Azulon, perhaps they had ousted another faction entirely. How many people knew about this place? How safe were they, really? 

Zuko was brought to a simple little office, adorned on all walls by trinkets and masks, clearly sentimental memorabilia, with a messy little desk and small shelves littered with scrolls of varying paper qualities, but he took in none of the details, entranced as he was by the room's one occupant. 

Seated at the desk, in a high-backed chair, her hair spilling over her shoulders until it pooled on the desk, dangerously close to the fresh ink of the letter she was writing, was Ursa. 

His mother was alive. 

Zuko gasped, tears immediately springing to his good eye, and he slapped a hand over his mouth, certain it was hanging open stupidly in shock. Ursa looked up from her work, disturbed by the noise, and her golden eyes widened, shocked, before her entire expression melted into relief. She stood, gracefully, from her chair, sweeping across the room to sweep her son into her arms. 

He was taller than her, now. Not by much, just a centimeter or two, but it was there. So much time had passed, they had missed so much in each other's lives, and now, he was taller than her. A stupid thing to be hung up on, when seeing a woman he'd almost believed was dead, but it was all he could focus on. 

"Oh, Zuko, my baby... I can't forgive myself for what has been done to you. I left you, all those years, to suffer in my stead, and I can't apologize enough for that. I'm so, so sorry." She whispered into his shoulder, one hand on the back of his head, holding him close. 

Zuko shook his head, confused. "Why are you apologizing?" 

She pulled back, holding his face in her hands. It didn't take much effort for him to guess where her gaze had landed. "I should have been there for you." 

Again, he shook his head, feeling his cheeks brush through her warm palms. "You did what you had to do. You saved my life. You saved me when I was a baby, you saved me six years ago, and you saved me, again, today. I can't hold any of it against you." 

She looked, sadly, at his face, brushing her thumb against the edge of his scar. It tingled uncomfortably, and his hand was on hers, pulling it away, before he'd fully registered what he was doing. "Oh, sorry." She apologized again. 

"No, it's... It's okay. I just don't like-" 

"I understand." She dropped both hands, though, holding them in front of her like she'd just done something terrible. "What I wanted to say was- You should, you know. You should hold it against me. I was never able to do enough, was never able to protect you from that man. It's all I can do to stop you from dying, but all the rest of it..." 

"There  _ is  _ something you can do, though." Zuko realized. Ursa looked back up to him in question, elegant brow furrowed. "You've got a whole group here, don't you? How many people?" 

She shook her head. "There's... barely fifty in the compound at any one time, but we have a couple hundred members spread across the nation. Why?"

"And all of these people want to depose Ozai, right?" 

She nodded this time. "That's right. I found like-minded people after being banished from the palace, and we've been working to build an army since. What are you getting at?" 

Things were coming together. He felt something like a rush as the pieces fell into place in his mind. "There's another army coming, right now, planning on the same thing. My friends will be invading the palace soon, on the day of a solar eclipse. We could use the extra manpower, if you have it." 

She gasped, holding her hand up to her mouth. "An invasion?! Who- you said your friends?!" 

"Yes, an invasion. The force will be made up of people from all over the world, people who want to see this war ended once and for all, but it's being led by the Southern Water Tribe and its Chief." 

"The Southern... Zuko, are you telling me...?" She seemed hesitant to jump to the logical conclusion. 

He grinned, confirming her suspicions. "Yeah, Mom. I met him. And he's on his way here." 

\---

Overwhelmed, Ursa had retreated from the small office to a sitting room, urging Zuko to sit on a plush couch beside her, to regale her with all of the details she had missed in their time apart. He explained the true story of his banishment, knowing several details had been skewed in the retelling, of his travels to all of the world's kingdoms, how his soulmate was now traveling with the Avatar to depose Ozai and to put a stop to this endless war, once and for all. He awkwardly stumbled over the parts that embarrassed him, of the times when he'd been fueled by anger and by fear, following Ozai's orders to the letter in a desperate attempt to prove himself, of how he'd hurt the people he cared about the most. He also glossed over much of his time in Ba Sing Se, preferring not to give his mother all the nitty-gritty details of his romantic endeavors, even if she playfully needled him for more. 

Finally, he explained what they were all up to, traversing the Fire Nation to draw near to the capitol, advancing with their forces on the palace, how he'd lost contact with the others somehow. 

"I need to let them know they're in danger. The Fire Lord knows they're here, knows Aang is alive. I don't know why I haven't been able to see Sokka in our dreams, but..." 

"Do you have any idea where they might be now?" Ursa asked, pulling out a detailed map of the Fire Nation, weighing it down at the edges with crystalline paperweights. 

He studied the map, recalling what places he'd suggested Sokka get to. "I never got to see his finished schedule, but... they should be about halfway by now." He measured out the distance, looking at the place names near that point. "They should be... around here by now." 

"That's near Avatar Roku's home island." Ursa pointed out. 

Zuko blinked. "What, do you think the Avatar stopped by his past life's home for some reason?" 

She shook her head. "No, that's not- maybe, but I just thought it was interesting. He was my grandfather, you know." 

A long silence sat between them, the gears grinding against each other in Zuko's mind. "Um, no. I didn't- are you being serious right now?" 

It was her turn to blink at him. "You... Were you never told?" 

"No, I- Roku's my great-grandfather?" 

She nodded. "It was a whole thing. Azulon wanted to ensure strong heirs, and thought the descendants of an Avatar would be just the ticket. I'm not even a firebender, so I'm not sure how that all was supposed to work out for him." 

Zuko ran a hand through his loose hair, letting it fall in messy waves back around his face. "I mean, it did work, didn't it? Azula's- I don't know how much you know, but, she's just as crazy perfect as she ever was. She mastered lightning already. Her fire's blue! I didn't know that was a thing that could happen until I saw her again a few months ago!" 

Ursa pursed her lips, looking all the world exactly like Azula in the moment, her lip paint sticking to itself in just the same manner. "That girl... I have a lot to apologize to her for, too." 

Zuko sighed. "We both do. She almost started to trust me again, when I came home. She's gonna be really upset when she finds out... When she finds out I was never on her side. That I lied to her." 

Ursa's warm hand found his knee, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Well, we just have to win, then, don't we? We can buy ourselves plenty of time to talk to her once that awful man is out of the way." 

"Right." 

\---

Plans were made and people gathered. Ursa sent summons to all of her people, urging them to meet up at the compound before continuing on to intercept the invasion forces. For Zuko, she gathered intel from her scouts, tracking down the Avatar and his companions as quickly as possible, without alerting the soldiers canvassing for him on the Fire Lord's orders. They'd most recently been spotted headed in the direction of Fire Fountain City, and that's where Zuko would meet them, all things according to plan. 

Ursa embraced him, holding tight, almost crushing. "I hate to say goodbye to you so soon after reuniting. There's so much more I want to talk about." 

"Don't worry, Mom. We'll see each other again, soon." One last squeeze, and she let him pull back, sniffling away a few stray tears. "I can't wait for you to meet Sokka, Mom. You'll absolutely love him." 

"I know I will, honey. Now, go! Go! Before I change my mind!" She laughed, wet through her tears. "The dinghy is already waiting for you! Go, my brave boy!" 

"I'll make you proud, Mom. I'll make you  _ so  _ proud." He promised, collecting the sack of provisions she'd forced on him. 

She smiled, beaming, despite the streaks through her makeup. "You already have, Zuko." 


	33. The Runaway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alice took forever to read thru this so blame them

There was something...  _ familiar _ about the crude drawing on the poster. Zuko tilted his head, grasping at the flicker of recognition. 

The... creature depicted on the poster was apparently wanted for a series of crimes, from theft to extortion, and had a sizable bounty on its head. The image grinned maniacally up at him from the page, fangs lining the feral smile. Clearly, the artist (a generous term, here) had cared more for depicting their own feelings about the wanted party, rather than achieving a technically accurate rendition of the criminal in question. 

Angling his gaze to get the words more squarely in his good eye's field of vision, Zuko read the description at the bottom of the page.  _ Roughly ten to twelve years of age... roughly 140 centimeters in height... blind... Blind?  _

The flicker of recognition solidified. The earthbending girl traveling with the Avatar fit the description and, now that he remembered her, the crude drawing was a better depiction than he'd originally guessed. 

A part of him was relieved. It wasn't his fault, after all, that the Avatar had been spotted. That part was hugely overshadowed, though, by the fear and anger that shot through him with the realization that the team wasn't laying low at  _ all.  _

He needed to find them, and quickly. 

Just as he turned to stalk off, intending to employ his usual methods towards his old favorite pastime (Avatar hunting), he was suddenly thrown back, arms full of one very excited boy, his own squawk of surprise echoed by that of a now-airborne messenger hawk. 

"Zuko!" The familiar voice called, before kisses began to rain down all over his face. 

"Zuko? What's he doing here?" Another familiar voice called. 

Over Sokka's shoulder, Zuko caught a glimpse of the Avatar, his tattoos covered by what appeared to be a school uniform, and a growth of short hair covering the usually-bare crown of his head. The hawk alighted on his shoulder, preening his flight feathers ruefully.

"Uh, hi, guys." He greeted, still reeling. 

"Hi." Sokka grinned leaning back just enough to get a good look at him. 

The tribesman's face fell. 

"Oh, shit, Zuko. You look like  _ crap!  _ What happened?" He asked, eyes searching Zuko's face. 

He shook his head, electing not to answer. "That's not important. You guys are in danger. You need to get moving,  _ now. _ " 

"Why? What's wrong?" The Avatar asked, eyes wide with concern. 

"The Fire Lord knows you're here. He knows you're alive." 

Twin expressions of shock spread across both Aang's and Sokka's faces. "What?!" They shouted, in eerie unison. 

"Someone saw you and sent word. You guys can't be doing stuff like  _ this _ ," Here, Zuko held up the poster depicting 'The Runaway', "And expect to stay hidden!" 

"Woah, what is that?" Sokka snatched the poster away, frowning at it.

"Sokka, do you think it was..." Aang mumbled, looking guilty. 

Sokka glanced up at him, blinking, brows furrowed, before his eyes widened with understanding. "The lake." He agreed, cryptically. 

Aang shrank in on himself further. 

Sokka sighed. "Let's get back to camp. Hopefully, both of the girls are still there. We need to get moving." 

"You need to get moving  _ fast. _ There's going to be an entire army after you guys, now.  _ And  _ you're in enemy territory." Zuko reminded them. 

"We  _ know. _ " Sokka snapped, glaring up at him, but deflated just as quickly. "Sorry, I'm... me and Aang helped Toph out with some of her schemes. I think I'm... I feel a little guilty about," He waved the poster around, crinkling it in the wind, "This." 

"Toph and Katara haven't been getting along, though. They probably won't both be in the camp." Aang pointed out. 

"Well, we'll check there, first, before we start wandering through town, okay?" Sokka rolled up the poster, shaking his head. "Stupid..." He mumbled, expression stormy. 

\---

"Wait here, okay?" Sokka ordered suddenly, far away from town. "I want to warn Katara you're here before she just bumps into you, you know? She's been a little..." He made a vague motion with his hand, meaningless to Zuko. "Anyway, just wait. I'll come get you when I'm sure she won't blow up at you." 

"We'll leave Hawky here to keep you company!" Aang chirped, following after Sokka, leaving Zuko alone among the dense brush, the messenger hawk settling in on his shoulder. "See ya, Zuko!" 

There, he waited, for several long minutes, gently stroking the bird's terrifically sharp beak, until the monotony was broken by shouting and ice, trapping him in place. The bird snapped at his finger in surprise before taking to the skies. 

"Zuko! What the hell are  _ you  _ doing here?!" Katara shrieked, hands still in front of her, prepped for further bending. "Leading soldiers right to us, I bet!" 

"What?!" He shouted back, confused and panicked. "Why would you just assume-?!" 

"Katara! Stop it!" Sokka's voice cut in, accompanied by a rush of footsteps. 

"Why is he  _ here,  _ Sokka?! Isn't he supposed to be back home, in his nice cushy palace?!" 

"He's..." Sokka began, but trailed off, realizing he didn't actually know. 

"I came here to warn you guys. There  _ are  _ soldiers after you, but I'm not the one who brought them here, okay? My father knows Aang is alive." Zuko explained, rushing to get the words out. 

Katara looked less than pleased. "And how would he know  _ that? _ " 

"The lake, Katara." Sokka responded, a terse edge to his voice. "When Aang was playing around and airbending, remember? I made us leave right away, but..." 

"I'm sorry." The Avatar apologized again, looking like the guilt was crushing him. 

"All I know is that word got to the Fire Lord, and I had to escape before I was executed in front of a cheering crowd, okay? I can't be there any more than the rest of you right now." 

"Executed?!" Sokka yelped. "Way to bury the lede there, Zuko! What the hell?!" 

"Oh, uh, yeah. My mom's got a rebel army, and they broke me out, so I didn't die, but-" 

"Your mom's _alive_?! She has a _rebel army?!_ How much have we been missing?!" Sokka dug his fingers into his cheeks, pulling at his expression dramatically. Zuko barely suppressed his laughter at his antics, but the situation was serious. 

"She's going to help out with the invasion, so you'll get to see them on the day of the eclipse. Um... the Fire Lord also knows about the invasion, by the way. I, uh, forgot to mention that." 

"He  _ knows-! Zuko!"  _ Sokka grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him back and forth, as far as his icy prison would allow. "That's it. Katara, melt him out. Zuko, start at the beginning." 

"No, Sokka- I'll tell you guys everything  _ later. _ Where's your earthbender... Tough? Is that her name?" 

"Toph." Katara corrected, melting the ice, as requested. "And I don't know. We both sort of... stormed off. I have to assume she's pulling more shenanigans in town." 

"Then that's where we have to go. You guys can't stay here any longer, not even long enough for me to explain. There will be an army here any minute, and they'll be after  _ all  _ of you."

\---

The feeling of dread clawing its way up Zuko's throat reached its zenith as they neared the town square, the enormous, fire-breathing statue of his father casting long, flickering shadows about the area. There were so many guards, dozens and dozens of them, the streets thick with them, more men in armor than citizens around, like the town had been replaced with a military outpost in the brief span that they'd been outside it. Guards dashed about in threes and fours as orders were shouted, passersby were targeted and interrogated, posters bearing Aang's face and those of his friends were waved wildly. From what he could tell, only Katara was without one at this point, although Aang's was a bit dated and didn't reflect his current, more hairy, state. 

"We can't walk around openly like this." Zuko hissed, holding back the team from leaving their tight alleyway. It was already risky being this close, but they were straining to keep going. "Katara, you'll have to go alone. It's too risky for Aang to go out, even disguised, I'm supposed to be dead, and I don't even want to  _ know  _ what Sokka did to get that poster." 

"Petty theft, Zuko, really not worth all the hubbub." Sokka waved a hand dismissively, though Zuko had to disagree. 

He sighed, rubbing his temple. "Regardless, they have your face. Katara, go. Bring Toph back to camp. We'll have the bison ready when you get back." 

"And  _ why  _ am I taking orders from you?" Katara crossed her arms, glaring suspiciously. 

Zuko blinked, taken aback. He'd thought he was being pretty reasonable about things, but maybe they had some sort of hierarchy going in their little group? Was he stepping on someone's toes?

"Because he's right, Katara." Sokka rose to his defense, glaring back at his sister. 

"Oh, yeah, like I want to hear that from  _ you. _ " She rolled her eyes, unimpressed. 

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Sokka squawked, offended. 

"I  _ mean,  _ you  _ always  _ think he's right! You always just  _ trust  _ him out of nowhere! He could be leading you off into a trap, trying to split us all up! Or, maybe, he's sending  _ me  _ into a trap! Ever think of that?! Huh?!" 

"Katara, listen to yourself! You sound totally crazy!" Sokka argued back, smacking a hand into the wall with his broad hand gestures. "Ow." 

"No, Sokka, calm down. She has a point." Zuko tugged Sokka's hands back to his sides gently. They would draw attention to themselves at this rate. 

"She does?" Sokka screwed up his face in confusion. 

"I do?" Even Katara seemed surprised. 

"You do." Zuko agreed. "It's not unreasonable for her to be suspicious of me. Look at it from her perspective. I chased you guys across the world, and the next time you see me, I've suddenly sworn off Avatar hunting, the thing that had been driving me for three whole years and that I screwed you guys over multiple times for. For me to show up again now... I appreciate your trust, Sokka, I really do, but she doesn't know me like you do." 

Katara nodded, arms crossed, but the hard edge had fallen away from her expression. 

"I know I'm asking a lot right now, Katara, but please, put your faith in me. If everything goes south, you know exactly who to blame." Zuko pleaded, heart racing in his throat. The noises from the square were encroaching, getting louder, individual voices easier to pick out. 

She noticed it too, glancing over her shoulder, tension threading into her posture. Finally, she gave in, nodding. "Okay. Okay. I'll trust you, just this once. You're right, I'm the only one that can be seen. I'll find Toph." 

Zuko nodded back, opening his mouth to thank her, but a finger was in his face, accompanied by that icy glare again. 

"If anything,  _ anything  _ seems even a  _ little  _ suspicious, I will not hesitate to  _ end  _ you. Understood?" 

\---

The reins had hardly been tightened on the bison's horns when the first of the airships began to darken the sky. The girls still weren't back yet, but they'd run out of time to wait for them here. They needed to relocate, and quickly, before the bombs began to drop. 

The Avatar stood resolute, an intense expression on his face as he took his place at his bison's head, frowning up at the airships with a calculating gaze. 

"The way I see it, we have two options here." Sokka began, tugging Zuko into the saddle beside him and unfurling a heavily-annotated map. "Option one, we sneak off as best we can on a ten-ton fuzzy monster, lay low until the soldiers give up, and then circle back to try to find the girls." 

"No." Aang snapped, not even giving a moment to think about it. "We won't leave anyone behind." 

"Okay, then. Option two, we fly directly back towards town, hope we get lucky, and if we manage to pick up the others before dying, we book it off the island and hope the airships can't keep up." 

"That's also no good." Zuko argued. "There's no guarantee we'll be able to find them quickly, and a slim chance we make it out of there at all, with or without them. It's suicide." 

"We have to." Aang snapped the reins, calling for the bison to ascend. "No matter how dangerous it is, we have to save them." 

And so, regardless of Zuko's very level-headed disagreement, the Avatar steered them quickly and visibly toward the town square again. Slowly, with great groans of heavy ropes and the screeching of oversized mechanics, the airships shifted course, following the speedy bison. These newer models were much like the giant warships the Fire Nation had favored before, too slow-moving to catch up, but fantastic at endurance pursuits. A smaller balloon, one of the original designs, may have been able to chase them more quickly, but they still weren't safe. If they didn't find the others quickly, these heavy ships would still be perfectly capable of overtaking them, and then it'd all be over, the invasion, the rebellion, the people of the Earth Kingdom, all of it. 

The bison sped faster and faster at his master's urging, breath growing labored already. If they burned themselves out now, they wouldn't even make it  _ to  _ another island, let alone more quickly than their pursuers. Was this how the Avatar had felt all the time those first few months? Had they made constant, panicked calculations based on the unpredictable variable of a flying monster's energy levels? He'd had enough trouble keeping track of his ship's coal supply, and that was a fairly standard conversion rate. This much coal in gets you this far in this much time. Easy, clean. How much food and rest could get you how far with this thing? How much did stamina count for, and how much did pure gumption factor in? 

The airships fell behind them as the bison swayed dangerously, losing altitude then gaining it again quickly. "Sorry, buddy." Aang called miserably, petting the great head of the beast. "We'll slow down when we get further away, okay? Just hang in there until then." 

The bison lowed in response, as though he'd understood. Sokka had said the Avatar believed he really could understand, right? Maybe it was true. 

The clamoring sounds of battle crescendoed as they sped toward the town, complete with screaming and shouting and the smashing of buildings. A body flew from the town square onto a nearby rooftop, landing with a sickening thud, as a pillar of stone retracted into the cobblestones once more. 

"Well, looks like we don't have to search too hard." Sokka quipped. 

Sure enough, at the epicenter of the chaos were two girls, bending openly in spite of their location. No point in keeping a low profile anymore, it seemed, since the Fire Nation's armies already knew where and who they were. 

They had lost the advantage of Katara's anonymity. 

"Guys! Come on!" Aang shouted, pulling the bison in close. The creature lowed with panic as they approached the statue, spouting fire as it was, and the guards bending the same element with wild abandon. "I can't get Appa any closer! He's too scared!" 

"I got this!" Toph shouted back, sliding through a series of tight stances, sending waves of earth out to make a wide clearing for them before sending a pillar of stone rocketing them skyward, like that guard before. Zuko and Sokka leaned out of the saddle in unison, stretching their arms out towards the girls. Sokka nearly unbalanced in his desperation to gather Toph into his arms, panic in her expression as she lost contact with the earth. Zuko caught Katara far more neatly, grasping her around the elbow as she did the same to him, no hesitation in her movements. 

"Thanks..." She breathed, disbelief evident in her tone. 

"Oh, yeah! I'm good!" Toph gloated, despite gripping Sokka's upper arm with a deathly-tight grip, fingers practically a tourniquet around his bicep. 

"Come on, Appa! Let's get out of here!" Aang called, snapping at the reins. "Yip yip!" 

The bison, already moving at his top speed, groaned in reply, but kept up the pace as best he could, leaving the island and their fiery attackers behind. 

The airships finally broke the skyline again, back in pursuit now that they'd righted themselves. They'd need to keep up this pace to lose them completely, but it was clear the bison was flagging. They were losing altitude again, but this time, the bison didn't just pick up right after. 

Apparently,  _ this  _ was how much pure gumption counted for. 

"Appa's nowhere near as fast in the water as he is in the air! We need to keep going!" Sokka called out to their pilot. 

"He's tired, okay?! He's doing his best!" Aang snapped back, glaring over his shoulder. "If he needs to swim it, he can swim it. We'll figure out a way to lose them." 

"We'll be less visible on the sea than in the air." Zuko pointed out. "We'll be able to swim around the nearest island and lose them that way." 

"You'd better be right about this." Katara warned as Aang followed his advice, sending the bison dropping into the water below. She stood, standing at the back of the saddle, as far as she could get with all of their supplies strapped in, and bent the water behind them, helping the bison to swim faster and more easily with the fabricated current. "How far?" 

Sokka consulted his map, peering at the tiny islands dotted around the archipelago. "If we left the island this way... we're heading this direction... there's an island here, looks like, one we weren't planning on stopping at, but it's... if we can go this far in two hours... but we're on the water now..." His muttering tapered off, fingers tapping at his chin in a rhythm that likely only made sense to himself, frowning deeply at the map. "It'll be a few hours before we reach it, but we'll be able to see it pretty soon. Keep an eye out to the southwest." 

"Great. That's plenty of time. Zuko, start talking." Katara ordered, sending a quick glare over at him out of the corner of her eye as she continued to flow through her stances, unbroken. 

\---

In the time it took for the island to appear over the horizon, Zuko rushed through his story, starting at the last time he'd seen Sokka, when they'd just barely arrived at the first island. He explained Azula's deception, his father's tests, the war meetings he'd been privy to and what he'd learned at them. Sokka's brow furrowed deeply, staring intensely, like he was taking prolific mental notes and making on-the-fly calculations with them. Katara's glare fell away fully, looking at him sympathetically, tears of frustration brimming when he brushed off something she thought he should have been angry about. Aang looked like he was bubbling over with questions, shifting uncomfortably from where he was seated, but patiently and politely waited for Zuko to finish. 

Zuko glossed past the forced vacation, resuming just after, when he revealed the mad plan to sear the Earth Kingdom right off of the map. 

"Oh, no..." Four voices echoed one another, overlapping as they shared a unified sentiment. 

Sokka took a deep breath, closing his eyes, almost meditative. "We already knew we needed to defeat the Fire Lord before Sozin's Comet arrived. Avatar Roku told you that much months ago. All this means is we now have a solid idea exactly  _ what  _ we're preventing with the invasion." 

"You still want to go through with it?!" Zuko stared at him in shock. They'd fully lost the element of surprise, and, with the reveal of his own treachery, there was no telling what tactics they'd employ or not employ based on his presence at the meetings. 

"We  _ have  _ to." Sokka insisted. "We have no other choice. The window of opportunity we get from the eclipse is still our only shot. We just have to be smarter, outthink the opponent. We've still got a bunch of new inventions and tactics they've never seen before, never so much as  _ heard  _ about, because they've never been  _ done _ before. Plus, we've got a whole rebel army, apparently." 

"Yeah, tell us about that." Toph piped up. "That's what  _ I  _ wanna hear!" 

"Alright. Well, after that meeting, the one I just told you guys about, after that one, he called me into the audience hall again, like before, except it wasn't like before." Zuko began, telling the story of his sentence, his injuries, his execution. He told them about the girl who rescued him, the place she led him to, about meeting his mother there and the things she'd told him, the promises he'd made. 

"And then she helped me find you guys." He finished, lamely. 

The others were all reeling from the onslaught of information. His storytelling really was back-heavy, wasn't it? He needed to learn how to order information better if he was ever going to be a real leader. 

"Wait, you said you got injured." Katara focussed on that, picking the one piece to process first. 

"Yeah, and that the medic didn't like you." Sokka added. "She did kind of a rush job, right?" 

"That's why you look so sick!" Katara gasped, staring at Sokka in shock. 

It clicked for him, as well. "Why didn't you tell us before?! You know Katara's a healer!" 

"I can use my waterbending to help." She uncorked her water skin before waiting for a response. 

"There wasn't time." Zuko pointed out, but she was already shoving his shirt aside impatiently. 

She hummed, looking at it. "A little more red than it should be, but it's coming along fine." She noted. "I'm still going to help it along, okay?" 

The water was chilly on the warm skin around the sutures. The redness faded from the wound, leaving it just a tinge pink, healed enough for the stitches to be cut out. 

Katara breathed a sigh of relief. "There. How does that feel?" She asked, pulling the water back into the pouch. 

Zuko nodded, beginning to thank her, but Sokka interrupted. "Weren't you limping earlier? Was that the only place you were hurt?" 

Zuko glanced between them. He didn't want to be any trouble, especially with the tenuous friendship he was just beginning to build with the waterbender, but the wound on his leg was definitely the one that was worse. 

"No, I... there's another one, on my leg. Do you need me to...?" He mimed removing his pants. She'd needed the fabric out of the way a moment ago, but he was reluctant to just strip in front of his soulmate's little sister. 

Luckily, Katara shook her head. "It would give me a better idea of what I'm dealing with, but if you're uncomfortable, you don't have to. What kind of wound is it?" 

"It's, um... well it started as a stab wound." Zuko began, embarrassed now, after the adrenaline and blood loss was no longer affecting his judgement, by his rash decision to try amateur cautery. 

" _ Started?! _ " Sokka shrieked. 

Katara frowned suspiciously. 

"Well, I kind of tried to... burn it closed? Before I lost too much blood." He explained. 

"So it's a  _ burn.  _ Not a stab wound. And one that wasn't at all properly treated or disinfected." Katara's voice was cold. 

"Um... yes. Sorry?" Zuko wasn't sure whether apologizing was the right thing, but it was the only response he could come up with, faced with her ire. 

"You let me  _ waste  _ my energy and my fresh water on some already stitched up papercut when you have an  _ untreated burn?  _ And, let me guess, that's what's infected?" Her finger poked harshly at his chest, her glare getting closer to him as she advanced until it was all he could see. "That's it. Pants off. I don't care anymore. I need to see this." 

"Katara!" Sokka squeaked, covering his eyes before Zuko could comply with the order. 

"Don't be such a big baby, Sokka. Pants. Now." 

Zuko shucked them, terrified of what she might do if he forced her to repeat herself a third time. 

"He's my boyfriend! And you're my baby sister! I don't want you to see him naked!" Sokka complained. 

"Do you want to see him  _ walk  _ again?" She snapped impatiently. "Now, show me the burn. Lay down on your stomach." 

Zuko did, wincing at the dull sear from his thigh, and leaned his forehead on his arms. 

"Oh,  _ shit. _ " Sokka breathed out, apparently no longer hiding in his hands. 

"Oh, Zuko. I wish you'd said something earlier..." There was the distinct sound of the cork popping, followed by the same cold sensation. 

"There was no time. This isn't nearly as important as keeping Aang alive." Zuko argued. 

"I don't know if you've looked at this anytime recently, but if I wasn't treating it  _ right now _ , you really might have lost your entire leg. Or, you know, the infection might have spread to your  _ bloodstream."  _ Katara informed him. 

There was a tugging sensation, now, as the water pulled at his tissues. His heart rate picked up as she worked, feeling fatigue wash over him. 

Suddenly, the sensations disappeared. 

"That's as much as I can do for now." She sighed, sounding tired, as well. "Sokka, do we have any bandages? It'll be better if we can keep it clean." 

"Uh, yeah, just a sec." 

Zuko felt himself beginning to drift into a light slumber, listening to the rustling sounds of Sokka digging through his pack, startled out of the daze by his loud 'Aha!' as his search was successful. 

"I'm going to wrap your leg now, okay?" Katara tapped the underside of his knee. "I'm gonna need you to give me room to work. Don't do anything that hurts." 

Zuko rolled onto his side, letting Katara pull the bandages around his thigh. He felt a presence, like he was being watched, and glanced over to see Sokka, staring at the whole exchange with a strange intensity. The other boy flushed as he realised Zuko was looking back at him, and quickly glanced away. 

Katara followed Zuko's gaze. "Ugh, Sokka, grow  _ up _ . What, are you jealous or something?" 

"No! It's just-" 

"Fine, I'll let you bandage him up when it's time to change them. Does that make you  _ feel  _ better?" 

Sokka pouted. 

She rolled her eyes. " _ Boys. _ " She tied off the bandage neatly, patting his leg to let him know she was done. "I'll do another healing session when I'm feeling up to it. It takes a lot out of me." 

Zuko tugged his pants back up, carefully as to not disturb her bandaging efforts. "Uh, thanks, then. I appreciate it. You don't need to push yourself for my sake, you know." 

Katara flipped her hair over her shoulder, smirking playfully at him. "You're right, I don't. You're welcome." 

\---

Aang steered his bison into a tiny cove, surrounded by cliffsides and a rocky outcropping, where they floated until the sun set fully on the horizon. The airships overtook them, then passed, disappearing into the distance. 

"How are we going to stay hidden?" Aang worried, looking out over the water where they'd last seen the ships. 

"Same plan as before." Sokka announced, pulling out his map and an extremely long scroll, also heavily edited. "Well, except we stick to it better. We keep to the hidden places, we only fly for an hour or two a day, and we don't go into towns unless completely necessary. We'll also have to drop all of those three-day stops." 

"Isn't that dangerous, though?" Aang pointed out. 

"What? Why?" Zuko asked, glancing among the somber team. 

Sokka shrugged. "Those are the places I asked you to help me find, the ones Jin Lu showed me. As it turns out, all that screwed-up stuff ruining the environment around here is driving him crazy. We, uh, we had an incident at one of those places... well, it's no big deal. We can figure it out  _ after  _ we make you Fire Lord." 

"What do you mean, an 'incident'?" Zuko pressed, looking to the others for more information. 

It was Katara who spoke up. "Sokka's spirit slipped out of his body. Without his spirit guide, he was trapped in the spirit world until we could rescue him. We don't know if we'll be able to save him in time if it happens again." 

"Right." The Avatar agreed. "We don't know if there will even  _ be  _ friendly spirits at any of the other places, and I can only do so much. We're not sure if it can happen anywhere, or just places where there's more spirit activity, or what, but..."

"It's  _ fine,  _ guys. We don't have time to worry about my personal problems. There's an army after us, and we can't dawdle around trying to make the spirits happy. Beat the Fire Lord, end the war, fix the whole place from the top. That's the best plan." Sokka insisted. 

Everyone else glanced between each other. It clearly didn't sit well with any of them, but they couldn't argue. It was too dangerous to stop for long, even to keep him safe. They had to just keep moving and trust their luck. 

"Okay, Sokka. If you're sure." 

"I'm sure. Let's get going, we should put some distance between us and where we were last seen." 

And so Aang sent his bison into the skies once more, into the inky blackness of night, the hearts of everyone in the saddle weighed down by the heavy pressure of the day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im starting to write a zuko joins the gaang in s1 fic so uh if yall r interested in that let me know bc im still on the fence about if/when to post it   
> (yes its zukka im a loser)


	34. The Puppetmaster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR THE SUPER LONG WAIT GUYS  
> we went from absolutely dead at work to crazy busy in less than a week so suddenly my writing time went POOF  
> add that to being really nervous abt what im planning w hama and losing all motivation for this fic (adhd brain says Only Batman Now and i am a slave to its whims) and yall got a bit of an unplanned hiatus!!   
> hopefully future chapters do not take quite so long BUT we will be busy at work for the next couple months at least!!

A week left before the invasion. The island where their forces would convene a two-hour flight from this forest. Plenty of supplies, and good foraging here to restock what they didn't have. 

Best of all, no airships spotted in the last three days. 

For the first time in a long time, the team was able to properly relax. They started off the night by telling scary stories, discovering quickly that most of the group were terrible storytellers, Zuko didn't know any stories that didn't rely on troubling stereotypes of the other nations, and Katara was an absolute  _ master  _ at setting a spooky mood. 

As she finished her story, shivering dramatically at the conclusion, the rest of the team couldn't help but shiver along. The fire pit stuttered, matching to Zuko's uneven breaths, and spat out a few lingering sparks. 

"I hear something!" Toph yelped, flinching back from where she was seated before nervously placing her palm back on the earth. "It sounds like screaming... like the mountain is screaming!" 

Sokka found himself suddenly surrounded by bodies, all clinging to him, terrified, as he clung back in return. Aang's grip nearly cut off feeling to his fingers, Katara squeezed his other hand nearly hard enough to break fingers, while Zuko gripped his tunic like he thought it was a shield. 

"Shit, Toph! Are you  _ trying  _ to give us heart attacks?!" Sokka wheezed. "What does that even mean?! Mountains can't  _ scream! _ " 

Toph pouted, hand more firmly to the ground now. "I don't know! That's just what it  _ sounds  _ like! It's too far away for me to get a good feel!" 

"These woods are dangerous, you know." An unfamiliar voice suddenly interrupted. 

Aang shrieked. "The trees can talk, too!" He cried, clinging onto Sokka's side like a pentapus. 

Zuko rose to his feet in an instant, drawing tongues of flame from the fire pit to surround his fists, like Sokka had seen Katara do with a pool of water a million times. "Who are you?" He demanded, and an elderly woman stepped out from between the trees. 

"Calm down, little firebender. I'm not here to hurt you or your friends." Reluctantly, Zuko doused the flames, shaking the last of the sparks from his fingers. The old woman's friendly smile dipped into a grimace at the display, before returning to a more pleasant expression. "I'm merely offering a word of warning, and a place to stay." 

Sokka glanced her up and down. Nothing seemed immediately evident as a threat, but something  _ instinctive  _ told him something was wrong. "Thanks for the offer, but we're just fine out here." 

"Nonsense." She argued, still smiling pleasantly. "As I said, these woods are dangerous! People have been disappearing in these woods at night, you know." 

Sokka caught Katara's eye as everyone looked at one another. Her eyes widened with worry. "Disappearing? What do you mean?" Katara asked, voice wavering a bit with nervousness. 

"Around the full moon, people walk into the forest, and don't come out." The woman spoke with all the air of someone reciting a folk tale, but she seemed serious. "It's been happening for months, now. I run an inn nearby, see, so I hear all the travelers' gossip. You kids should come with me, stay the night." 

"I dunno..." Aang shifted his weight, dancing on the balls of his feet. "People disappearing on the full moon? That sounds like spirit world stuff." 

Sokka frowned, mentally searching their scrapped itinerary. "This isn't one of the places Jin Lu showed me. We're avoiding all of those." 

"Yeah, but maybe he missed one! If there's spirit activity around here..." 

Sokka followed his train of thought. "We need to leave right away." 

"Just for the night!" The old woman began to seem a bit panicked. "Just one night, and then you can be on your way!" 

Sokka squinted with suspicion. "Why are you so worked up about this?" 

"I..." The old woman sighed, collecting herself. "I didn't want to say anything, not yet, but..." 

She stepped into a familiar stance, the opening of a waterbending form. As she moved through the kata, smooth and sure in her movements, droplets of water formed from the air and tugged their way out of the trees, leaving the air dry and the leaves wilted. The water danced along with the woman's movements, snaking into a river in the air around her before snapping out, like the water whip Katara had gone through such a headache mastering, and slashing through a tree on the other side of the small clearing. 

Katara's eyes brightened. She clasped her hands beneath her chin, bouncing in place enough for her thick hair to follow the movement. "Oh! You're a waterbender!" 

"That's right." The old woman smiled, eyes glued to Katara, who stared back, star-struck. "Just like you, I grew up in the Southern Water Tribe. My name is Hama." 

The name sounded familiar... 

"You were friends with our Gran-Gran... with Kanna!" Katara gasped. 

"Oh, you're Kanna's grandchildren!" Hama looked almost weepy, throwing her arms up and taking hold of Katara by the shoulders. "I should have known! You look so much like her!" 

"She told us stories about you! She said you were the very last waterbender to be taken from us. She said you were so strong-willed and stubborn, that no number of firebenders were able to take you down!" 

"Until they did." Hama pursed her thin lips together, expression turning solemn. 

Zuko tensed. Sokka reached out for his hand, sliding his fingers into the warm palm, giving a quick squeeze. Zuko returned the gesture, acknowledging it, but the guilt didn't leave his expression. 

"Please, won't you all stay the night? When I overheard your small friend there mention the Southern Tribe, I was overjoyed that I might be able to talk to someone from back home for the first time in so long." 

"Well..." Katara glanced over, meeting Sokka's eyes. "It's up to you, Sokka. You're the one at risk if we stay here." 

It was true. It would be stupid for him to stay. It only took the one night for him to start seeing weird things, last time, and if this place was similar... 

But Katara looked so hopeful when she found out who Hama was. She looked almost despondent now, before Sokka even said anything one way or another, knowing how practical and hard-headed he could be. She'd already resigned herself to him insisting that they leave, to him disregarding her feelings on the matter, to him callously demanding they stick to his all-important schedule. 

"One night. We leave in the morning." 

Katara stared for a moment, processing his words, then flung herself into his arms, squeezing him hard enough to hurt. "Thank you! You're the best!" 

Sokka squeezed her back just as hard. So he'd never been able to deal with little sister tears. Who could blame him? "Yeah, I know. I'll remember you said that next time you're being a jerk."

She pulled out of the hug, punching him in the arm. "Yeah, right. I'm never a jerk.  _ You're  _ the jerk! Jerk!" 

"Um, Miss Hama?" Aang piped up. "Do you have a place for Appa to stay?" 

The bison lowed, stepping into the ring of dimming firelight. Hama's eyes grew wide. "Is that a... Well, I can't promise the barn is big enough, but we'll try." 

\---

After securing the animals in the barn for the night (the place had to be cleared of its contents, but they were able to make room) and Sokka was sure Hawky and Momo would get along (Zuko didn't think Hawky understood Sokka's stern warning, but he'd pulled out his most authoritative voice for the lecture, so he thought it probably got across), the team followed Hama into her inn, joining her for a small meal in the dining area. 

"So, what brings you all the way from the South Pole, Katara?" Hama asked, waterbending portions of soup into six separate bowls. 

The team glanced at one another, wondering how much they could safely say. Even if Hama was Water Tribe, she'd been living in the Fire Nation for quite some time. Would she sell them out to protect herself? 

"I heard you mention the Jin Lu, didn't I? The Far Strider spirit." Hama offered, sipping at her soup as though she hadn't heard the awkward silence fall. "Would I be out of line to guess one of you is here on a very special, spiritual journey?" 

Her eyes flicked over to Zuko for a moment, before returning, as ever, to Katara. 

Sokka cleared his throat. "Yes, actually, but I, uh, guess that's obvious." 

He stalled out, suddenly very aware of his shortcomings as a liar. Would Katara back him up, as she always did? Or would she simply trust this woman on the simple grounds that they were both waterbenders from the Southern Tribe? 

"He may not look it, but my brother is very spiritually sensitive." Katara picked up, following his lead. Sokka breathed a sigh of relief, letting her go on. "He had his first spirit vision when we were little. That's how he met..." All eyes fell on Zuko, who waved his fingers nervously, shrinking back from the attention.

"Ah, I thought you seemed a bit young for the ritual. So, why have you waited until now to make the journey?" Hama pressed, leaning across her bowl, into Katara's space. 

"We're actually traveling now because Sokka had another vision recently. The spirit guide is in trouble, because of all of the damage to the environment here. We're trying to fix what we can, to help heal the spirit. Meeting up with his soulmate was actually something of a coincidence." 

That all sounded really believable, and was kind of true, too. Sokka found himself a bit in awe of his sister, wondering how she got so good at this.  _ Little sisters are scary... _

"I see. So, that's what brings you to our little village, then? Chasing down tales of spirit activity?" 

"To be honest, we hadn't heard the tales before coming here. This was supposed to be a quiet stop before we moved on. It's a bit dangerous for my brother to be in spiritually active places for long right now, but that's a long story." Katara explained.

"Well, we do have all night." Hama encouraged. "Oh, but I don't mean to pry. I'd really rather hear stories of home, if you'd be inclined to tell them." 

"No, no, it's fine! What do you want to hear?" 

Sokka was startled by the sudden presence of fingers in his palm, Zuko having reached over to grasp his hand. He looked over to him curiously, tilting his head in question. 

Zuko leaned in, murmuring quietly. "Are you alright?" 

"Yeah, I'm good. I'll let you know if I start seeing things, don't worry." He assured him, squeezing his hand gently. 

"No, I mean- Well, that's good, I'm glad to hear it, but I meant..." Zuko's eyes flicked over to meet Hama, who was eyeing him out of the corner of her eye at the same time. Sokka tensed, and Zuko's attention returned to him. "You didn't seem as excited as your sister to meet her."

Sokka caught on to his meaning, glancing over to check on Hama, as well. The creepy old woman was still absorbed in her conversation with Katara, but she'd proven adept at eavesdropping already. Sokka leaned closer, murmuring directly into Zuko's good ear. "Not here. I'll talk about it later. Okay?" 

He leaned back, catching Zuko's eyes. He nodded, accepting the compromise. 

"Oh, it  _ is  _ good to see a pair of soulmates bonding, even across nations like this. You know,  _ I  _ was never able to meet my own soulmate. It was shortly after my own guidance ritual that the Fire Nation began  _ raiding  _ our home, you see." She was glaring directly into Zuko's eyes, cowing him as before. 

Sokka's fingers tightened, still grasping Zuko's. He was fully aware the prince already blamed himself for more than his fair share of his family's evils, and did  _ not  _ appreciate this woman twisting the knife. 

"Ah, but it must be a sign of good things to come, our people managing to get along like this. Don't you think?" Her smile was almost cruel, despite the words. 

Sokka fumed. Even if her words were true, he didn't appreciate the accusation behind her tone. He couldn't snap at her for it, though, not without sounding unreasonable. "Lee's a good guy. There are good-hearted people everywhere, even here." 

Hama hummed, her smile still tense. "I see... You have such  _ admirable  _ faith in the spirits' decisions, then." 

Katara cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Well... if we don't have faith in the spirits, we would be lost, right?" 

She was quoting Gran-Gran with that one, Sokka knew. It was something she would tell him often, lecturing him when he was especially grumpy with the spirit world as a whole after a spat with Zuko. 

"So true, so true." Hama allowed, leaning back into her own seat. 

Almost daintily, she dabbed at her lips with her napkin, rising to her feet and gathering up her empty bowl. "Well, I think it's just about time for us all to get to sleep. I have a busy day planned for tomorrow, after all." 

"Right. And we're leaving in the morning." Sokka reminded her, balancing Zuko's and his own bowls on his arm, reaching to take Aang's, as well. 

"That's really such a shame. I hope you'll reconsider, but I understand if you cannot." Hama called from the nearby kitchen, the sounds of ceramic dishware clinking together accompanying her words. 

Sokka followed the sounds to deposit the soiled bowls with her, obediently leaving them where she gestured for them. "We won't. But thanks for the meal." 

\---

Rest did not come easily for Zuko that night. He would have blamed it on the fever, as he'd been doing for every restless night for the past couple of weeks, but Katara had been taking impressively good care of him, and had almost gotten him fully back to health (Other than the puckered scar he would now have, of course. Actions have consequences.).

No, the restlessness had another explanation, entirely. The woman, Hama, set him on-edge. Part of him worried he was being an ass, that he was thinking of those spooky stories about waterbending pirates, stealing babies from their cribs to sacrifice to the moon spirit, the ones he'd had to interrupt in the middle of telling by the campfire because he had remembered too late how the ending went. 

Sokka had seemed nervous around her, as well, though. They hadn't had a chance to talk about it, not yet, but it reassured him, in a way. Knowing his nervousness might be warranted, after all. 

Regardless of the reasons, and whether or not those reasons made him a bad person, Zuko couldn't sleep at all tonight, and that's how he found himself on the roof of the inn, gazing up at the nearly-full moon, only a sliver of it blurred at the edge. The full moon was two nights away, according to Katara's internal lunar calendar, as accurate for the moon's phases as his own internal clock was for the time of day. 

It was bright and lovely, the night nearly cloudless, a cool light for such a hot and humid Fire Nation summer night. He closed his eyes, the soft moonlight shining dimly through his eyelids, and he breathed deeply, sliding into a meditative mindspace. 

He didn't often meditate at night, at all, and certainly not without a flame, but it was an unusual night, in an unusual place, and it felt  _ right _ , somehow. 

So he breathed, in and out, slowly, steadily, letting the light of the moon weakly stoke his inner flame, warming him, body and spirit, almost too hot in the muggy night air. He let his worries flow out with the exhale, allowed peace and calm to fill him on the inhale. Slow and steady, perfectly regular, as he'd been taught, as had been drilled into him nearly from birth, before he ever showed his first sign of a spark. A prince of the illustrious Fire Nation  _ must  _ be a firebender, after all. 

No, no thoughts like that. Inhale, peace and calm. Exhale, purge negative thoughts. Inhale-

"Hello, Zuko." 

He choked on his breath, flinching hard enough to scrabble at the roofing tiles, only just managing to catch himself before falling to a painful landing. He whirled on the source of the voice, falling into as defensive of a stance as he could manage, splayed out on a rooftop, still shaken from his near miss. 

A girl sat there, ethereal, glowing, translucent. She smiled at him, amused, with her eyes more so than her mouth. It looked as though her skin would be dark, as brown as Sokka's, if she weren't glowing with a white light, but her hair may have been this pale, regardless. She looked almost familiar...

"We've met, haven't we?" He guessed. 

She giggled, giving him another of those smiles, barely touching her mouth but brightening her whole face. "Not properly, no. Don't worry. My name is Yue." 

Yue... "The princess of the Northern Water Tribe." He realized. 

She nodded. "I was." 

He knew what happened, in the abstract. His uncle and Sokka had both told him pieces of the story. He hadn't seen it, of course, having chased down Zhao at the time, but he had seen the Avatar's rampage, and he had seen the moon suddenly illuminated once more. Seeing her, now, the princess who became the moon, made it all, very suddenly, all too real. 

"I'm sorry." He said, because he had no other words. 

"Sokka spoke fondly of you, you know." She said, as though he hadn't spoken. "You weren't on very good terms at the time, as I understand, but when I asked about you, he only had good things to say. About your virtues, about your eyes..." 

Zuko lifted a hand to his face, running his fingers along the uneven skin there. 

"He said they were the most beautiful eyes in the world, and that's a direct quote!" She laughed, and the sound was bright and clear, like a wind chime on a breezy night. "He never mentioned... He never mentioned a lot of things. I think it might have been partly because he wanted to cheer me up, but I think... He said that those things don't define you, and he wanted me to know you as he knows you." 

She paused, gazing out into the night sky, to her celestial form hovering above them in the heavens. Zuko followed her gaze, taking in her words. He felt almost giddy, knowing that even the Sokka of that time... knowing he really was just as head over heels for Zuko as Zuko was for him. It was... nice. 

"I'm really glad that, despite everything, you really do make him very, very happy." Yue smiled, a sadness in her crystalline blue eyes. "This... isn't what I needed to talk about, though. I just... I just really wanted you to know that." 

"I- Thanks." Zuko cleared his throat, unsure how to address her. She was a foreign princess, one whose kingdom his own people had ravaged, and a powerful spirit on top of that. He fell back into his usual pattern, awkward and blunt. It seemed unavoidable. "What did you need to talk about, then?" 

She stood slowly, poised just at the edge of the roof, weightless. "You all cannot leave so soon. Or, well... I'm asking you not to." 

Zuko blinked through his confusion. "Why? You're not worried about Sokka? Won't he-" 

"He will be safe, I promise you. These... occurrences, these disappearances, they aren't the work of a spirit at all." Yue explained. "However... there  _ are  _ people hurting, both yours and mine, and I would... Well, I would  _ like  _ to see them protected. I know it's a lot to ask, when duty has asked so much of you all already, but... Please. Stay and help." 

"Why-"  _ Why did you come to me and not Sokka _ , he meant to ask, or  _ Why did you tell me all of those things _ , maybe, but he hesitated, chewing his lip. "What do you need us to do?" 

"I've said all I can." Yue seemed to struggle with her words, her emotions expressed easily on her beautiful features. "When... When I took Tui's place, I gained her power. I can control the seas, as she once did, and I can heal grave wounds. I also gained another power, one the waterbenders never learned from her... I learned to read the future in the waves, by the push and pull of the spirit world on their shapes. That's how I know... I know if I tell you too much, more harm will come to innocents who do not deserve it. It's... better, I think, if I allow you to make your decisions on your own.  _ Bending  _ someone to your will, against their own, is the greatest injustice in this world. I hope you will remember that." 

Already, she had begun to fade. 

"I'll... Thank you, Yue. I'll try."

\---

Zuko crept along the roof, counting windows until he reached the room Sokka had been given for the night. He slipped down to the sill, sliding open the pane and ducking inside. 

Sokka was stripped bare, sliding out of the bed, the comforter barely serving any purpose any longer. Zuko was starkly reminded of a violent storm, of a hasty decision, of a murky riverbed full of frozen frogs, and found himself crossing the room, feeling Sokka's face for fever. 

"Hah? Wah?" The boy cried in confusion, scrambling to right himself and falling, with a thud, to the floorboards. "Ow!" 

Sokka rubbed at his undoubtedly-bruised hip, frowning groggily around the room.

"Hey." Zuko greeted, regretting, now, his stealthy entrance. "Didn't mean to spook you." 

"Oh, Zuko-" Sokka cut himself off with a huge yawn, crawling back into the bed. "Why, uh, why are you in my room, exactly?" 

Zuko sat at the foot of the bed, giving Sokka space to right himself and his covers. "We can't leave tomorrow." 

"Wha- Okay, um, I'm gonna hear you out, but do you remember the whole spirit-slipping-out-of-my-body thing we talked about?" Sokka rubbed at his eyes, furrowing his eyebrows. When he blinked again, his eyes looked a bit clearer. 

"Yes, but Yue said this wasn't a spirit thing, so you'll be fine." 

"You... Yue? You talked to Yue?" 

"Yes. She said we need to stay to help out, that there wasn't anything spirit related, something about 'both of our people' being in trouble, and also she can see the future, I guess." 

"What?!" Finally, Sokka looked like he was fully awake. "Okay, okay... I guess that makes sense, she  _ is  _ the moon, but... What did she mean, it's not spirit related? People are disappearing under the full moon!" 

Zuko shrugged. "She said she couldn't tell me anything else, that telling me the future would get 'more innocent people hurt', and also some weird warning against coercion? It was all very cryptic." 

Sokka smiled at that, his loose hair falling in his face as he ducked his head to hide the expression. "Yeah, she was kind of like that before she was a spirit, too." He took a deep breath, a little shaky, and slid beneath the comforter, patting the mattress beside him. "Come on, let's get some sleep. We can tell everyone about your spirit vision in the morning." 

Zuko blinked, watching him get comfortable. "Like... here? You want me to sleep here?" 

One blue eye cracked open to peek at him, before Sokka snuggled more comfortably into the pillow. "Yeah, why not? You're already here, after all." 

"I just mean... You know, you're..." Zuko gestured vaguely, even though Sokka wouldn't be able to see it. 

Sokka blinked his eyes back open, frowning up at him. "Oh. You don't  _ have  _ to, I mean, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything. I just thought... You know, I miss you and stuff, and we finally get a chance to get some just-us time, so..." 

"Oh." That was a pretty convincing argument, even though Sokka had missed his major reservation. 

After all, it wasn't until just now that Zuko was learning Sokka liked to sleep  _ naked. _

Gingerly, Zuko slipped beneath the blanket, sliding himself into the opposite side of the bed, giving Sokka plenty of room. Did he like to sleep spread out? Was he a cuddler? Did he kick? Azula was always a kicker. If he'd ended up falling out of the bed like that, it seemed likely he was at least not a  _ still  _ sleeper. 

A contented smile crept across Sokka's face and he scooted closer, ending up just at the centerpoint of the mattress. "Good night, Zuko." 

Zuko rolled onto his side, facing the other boy. He gave in, creeping a bit closer, as well. They weren't quite touching, but he was close enough to make out the very faint freckles dotting Sokka's nose, just barely a shade more brown than the rest of his skin. 

"Good night." He muttered, reaching up to trace along Sokka's cheekbone, marveling at how smooth his skin was, despite the dots of color. 

Sokka nuzzled into the touch, pressing his lips to his palm. Zuko swore his heart missed a beat. 

"Oh!" Sokka shouted, sitting up suddenly, and Zuko's heart  _ definitely  _ stopped this time. 

"What?! What's wrong?!" Zuko gasped, flinching back. 

Sokka dived off the side of the bed, scrambling through his pack. His tongue stuck out of the side of his mouth in concentration, his arm almost fully disappearing in the deep bag. His face brightened before his arm retracted, having obviously found his prize, and he turned, hands held behind his back, with a huge grin, back to Zuko. 

"Got something for you. Been meaning to give it back." Sokka climbed back into bed, keeping his left hand concealed the whole time, though Zuko already knew what he was hiding. He knelt, practically squirming with glee, and held up the necklace. "Ta-da! I've been keeping it safe for you! I... I mean, I know it's a little early, and you can't wear it around just yet, but..." 

"Just put it on me, you goof." Zuko ordered, and he did, fingers fumbling a bit in his excitement. 

The clasp secured, the blue cord back in place, Sokka ran his fingers along the accessory, reveling in the texture as it shifted from twine to stone and back again. 

"I missed you like crazy." Sokka murmured, soft, like he hadn't quite meant to say it. 

"I know." Zuko reminded him. "I could feel it." 

"You could?" Sokka asked, eyebrow quirking in a question. 

"When you were missing me, and I was missing you..." He let a small flame dance between his fingers, like a magician with a coin, like he had almost a month ago now, on that 'date' with Mai. 

Sokka reached a hand up, tentatively, and pulled the little flame away, letting it play on his own fingers. It grew, leaping playfully, and Sokka's eyes stayed glued to it, like it was a tarantula-scorpion, poised to bite, but he didn't snuff it out. Zuko pulled a second fire from the first, taking it back. 

"Hey!" Sokka protested. 

Zuko kissed him, impulsive, enamored by the orange light in his blue eyes, like a sunset reflecting off the ocean. 

How fitting, for them. 

\---

Hama found them in the morning, Sokka drooling into Zuko's neck, one hand splayed across his face, and cleared her throat loudly, waking them with a start. 

Sokka shrieked, stealing the comforter to cover his exposed body, while Zuko wiped the drool off of his neck with an exaggerated grimace. 

"I'd almost thought our firebending friend here ran off in the night! I should have known I'd find him here with you. The bond between soulmates is something quite powerful, after all." 

"A touching sentiment." Sokka grumbled. "Why are you even in here?! I could have sworn I locked the door..." 

"Master key." Hama smiled, lifting the object in question. "I came to wake you. I have some shopping to do in town, and I'm sure you all need to resupply for your journey." 

"About that..." Sokka mumbled, remembering the revelations Zuko had delivered to him in the middle of the night. Honestly, he'd thought it was a dream, but Zuko was very much still here, and very much still wearing the definitely-not-a-betrothal necklace, so it must have been real. "I need to talk to the others, but we may not need to leave as quickly as I thought." 

The smile on her face widened. "That's  _ excellent  _ news." 

Hama left at that, puttering out of the door and locking the door behind her, almost looking like an ordinary, non-threatening old woman as she went. 

"Ugh, you totally soaked the necklace in slobber..." Zuko grumbled, detaching the clasp and dangling the wet accessory in front of himself. 

"Sorry." Sokka apologized. "Should've warned you that might happen when I invited you to stay." 

"Oh, well." Zuko sighed. "I can't wear it into town anyway..." 

He was pouting at the necklace, dangling between his hands, like he was giving up a piece of his soul to take it off. Sokka leaned into his side, nuzzling in just below his bad ear. 

"Hey, it's not the end of the world. Katara can't wear hers around either." Sokka reminded him. 

Zuko glanced over at him, as best he could with Sokka's face still resolutely tucked into his neck, hiding his sensitive eyes from the glaring sunlight with the firebender's warm skin. "And neither can you." He mused, running a thumb up the back of Sokka's neck, where the bone choker would usually sit. 

Sokka scoffed. "That's not the same. It's just a dumb accessory. It doesn't have, like... sentimental value, or anything." 

"It still feels like... like you're all having to give up so much of yourselves just to be here. Aang has hair, Toph's wearing shoes-" 

"Those don't have any soles and you know it." Sokka snickered, finally sitting back. Zuko's face was still severe, taking this discussion seriously. He scratched through the short hair at the back of his head (another thing he'd given up for their disguises... maybe Zuko had a point). "Listen, it's no big deal. Sure, it hasn't been easy, sneaking around like this, but... y'know, it's an important plan. Important things mean sacrifices. And, really, in the grand scheme of things, what's 'not being able to wear a necklace for a while' compared to..." He waved his arms vaguely, gesturing broadly to the world at large. 

"I'm just thinking... Do you not trust Hama because she's living here, in the Fire Nation? She's from your own tribe, isn't she? Do you think she... That she's lost something essential, being here for so long?" 

Sokka blinked slowly. "It's  _ way  _ too early to be getting all existential on me." He deadpanned. 

Zuko rolled his eyes.

Sokka laughed. "No, really, I mean it! It's not that deep, it's just... I dunno, it's just a feeling." 

"Spirit World stuff?" Zuko guessed. 

Sokka pulled a face. "Ew, gross, don't even suggest that. I'm just  _ naturally  _ good at reading people." He claimed haughtily, holding a hand to his still-bare chest. "I was the first one to notice Jet was bad news, you know." 

Zuko hummed. "Jet's not  _ that  _ bad." 

"He tried to kill you!" Sokka protested. "I know! I was there!" 

Zuko shrugged, noncommittal. "Is that what you're worried about, with Hama? Do you think she'll try to attack us?" 

Sokka gaped at him, thrown by the seemingly sudden change in topic. "What? No, I... No, that's not why I brought him up. It's more like..." He groaned, trying to get ahold of the nebulous feeling of dread Hama brought with her. "It's like... she's paying way too much attention to Katara, yeah? Like, it seems weird, right? She seems really really intent on keeping us here, for some reason." 

"So... you don't like... that she wants to mentor your sister?" Zuko guessed. 

Sokka huffed, frustrated. "No, more like... When we met Jet, he was the same way. Katara got all of his attention, and he just ignored me the whole time. It's the same... I dunno, vibes. I think... I think maybe she wants to do the same sort of thing. Like she's got some sort of plan to manipulate Katara into doing something she wants." He shook his head, his loose hair falling to hide his eyes. He pushed it out of the way. "These people look at Katara and they think they can get her to do whatever they want. They see an easy target." 

"Well, I don't think we have much to worry about, then. Your sister's really strong, and strong-willed." Zuko pointed out generously. 

Sokka snorted. "That's a funny way to say 'stubborn'... Anyway, I know you're right. She  _ is  _ strong. Scary strong. It's just..." 

"You feel like you need to protect her because she's your little sister." Zuko suggested. 

Sokka shook his head. "Not that. I mean that she's... Katara's really trusting. She wants to see the best in people. She always assumes good intentions before even thinking to doubt them." He hunched in on himself, brows furrowed. "I'm worried she might get in over her head before she even realizes the tides are coming in." 

Zuko went quiet. He was no stranger to manipulation, or to strong-willed people falling prey to it, for that matter. He certainly couldn't argue that Sokka had a point. "Let's... Let's get downstairs and meet up with the others. We need to talk about our plans here, right? Maybe we can talk to Katara about Hama at the same time." He hesitated, remembering the icy glare Katara had flashed him with, wary of him after their subterfuge in Ba Sing Se. "...Or we could get Aang to do it. She listens to him, right?" 

Sokka scoffed. "Katara doesn't listen to  _ anybody. _ She makes up her own mind and sticks with it." Sokka slid to the edge of the bed, heading for the pile of clothes he'd tossed haphazardly onto and around his bag. 

"Um, I gotta... I need to go- My things are in the other... room." Zuko stuttered out lamely. 

"Okay, cool. See you in a minute, then." Sokka chirped. 

Behind him, the door opened and shut, slamming with the force of the movement. What did  _ Zuko  _ have to be so worked up over? 

Sokka shimmied his way into his stolen Fire Nation pants and thought nothing more of it. 

\---

"Staying? Why?" Aang asked, somewhat distracted from the conversation by Momo's inquisitive little hands, digging through his ever-growing hair for imaginary insects. 

"I  _ told  _ you! Zuko said he talked to Yue!" Sokka explained, again. 

"Yue?" Toph wrinkled her nose. "Isn't that the moon girl?" 

" _ Yes,  _ she is, and she told Zuko this isn't a spirit thing!" Sokka was getting frustrated. How was this so hard to understand?! He'd been half-asleep and less confused than this! 

...Then again, maybe he'd only accepted it so easily  _ because  _ he'd been half-asleep. 

"Great, Zuko talks to the moon, too. Good to know you're both the same brand of crazy." Toph grumbled sarcastically. 

"Yes, the moon talks to a lot of people. She's a very nice and sweet person.  _ Maybe  _ she doesn't talk to  _ you  _ because you're such a  _ jerk!" _ Sokka snapped back. Yue was... still a raw nerve. 

"Children, children. Settle down." Katara scolded. "Toph, stop provoking Sokka. Sokka, you  _ have  _ to understand that this is all... quite a lot to take for the rest of us. I know  _ you  _ have plenty of experience with the spirits and... trusting Zuko, but from our perspective, you've just decided to risk your life over what very well may have been a- a dream, or something." 

"It wasn't!" Sokka insisted. "Listen. We can prove it. Zuko, you never met Yue, right?" 

Katara rolled her eyes. "Sokka, he was  _ there  _ when everything happened at the North Pole. You remember when you found out you could firebend trying to save his life? Yue was right there the whole time!" 

"Yeah, and Zuko was  _ unconscious!"  _ Sokka announced victoriously. 

"Last night was my first time meeting her. I think I... saw her in passing? At the North Pole? But I never knew who she was." Zuko didn't sound particularly certain, but it was all Sokka needed. 

"So, Zuko, since last night was your first time meeting Yue, why don't you describe her for us?" Sokka prompted. 

"Uhh... She had blue eyes, and dark skin..." Zuko started, glancing at Sokka, confused. 

"Right, like every other person in our whole tribe..." Katara grumbled. Aang laughed, hiding his smile behind both hands, like he could hide his amusement. Zuko pouted over at him. 

"...And white hair." Zuko finished, with more certainty. 

The suspicious expression fell from Katara's face. 

"Done up in loopies like this." Zuko elaborated, using his fingers to outline Yue's distinctive hairstyle. 

"See? That settles it!" Sokka insisted. "He really saw her, and really talked to her, and she told him we should stay! I, for one,  _ listen  _ to the spirits when they tell me things."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Yeah,  _ right. _ This coming from Mister 'Mumbo-Jumbo' over here." 

Sokka stuck his tongue out at her. 

"Well... I think it's great that we're staying!" Aang chirped, gathering Momo into his arms to seem more serious about the whole thing. The lemur wriggled upside down, grabbing at his own tail around Aang's arms, and instantly ruined the illusion. "It seems like people are really in trouble here, and I'm really glad we'll be able to help out!" 

"I don't mind keeping my feet on the ground a little longer." Toph grinned, wriggling her toes into the soft grass where they were gathered behind the barn. "Although I could do without the wood floors in the inn." 

"I guess I'm outvoted." Katara sighed. "Well, be safe, Sokka. I'm still worried about you, you know. You'll still tell us if something seems wrong, right?" 

"Right." Sokka agreed easily. He didn't much want to end up in the Spirit World again, not any more than the rest of them wanted to see him in there. 

"Great! Glad that's settled!" Toph stretched her arms out, wandering off. "So, now that we decided what we're  _ not  _ going to do, we just have to figure out what we  _ are  _ gonna do! For example,  _ I'm  _ gonna go eat some breakfast. Later, losers!" 

Sokka frowned. "She has a point..." 

Katara rolled her eyes. "You're always thinking with your stomach." 

"No, not about breakfast!" Sokka snapped. "...Well, I mean, I  _ am _ hungry, but that's not- What I mean is, if it's not some kind of spirit thing, we don't really have any idea what  _ is  _ causing the disappearances on the full moon." 

"Oh." Katara said, then, "Hmm." 

"Um, if I could- Hama wants us to go to the market with her, right? We could eavesdrop on gossip in town while we do that, find out more about what's going on." Zuko suggested. 

Aang and Katara blinked curiously at him. The whole team was used to doing things in such a straight-forward manner, the suggestion of subterfuge threw them off. "It was, uh, the kind of thing we did, back when-" He gestured vaguely in Aang's direction. 

"It's a good plan!" Sokka quickly defended, seeing Katara's expression going dark. "But we can't just stroll around town, right? There're people looking for all of us." 

"Maybe this is a job for... Wang Fire?" Aang suggested, grinning. 

Sokka matched the expression. 

"Wang... Fire?" Zuko asked, single eyebrow pulling with concern. 

"Don't ask." Katara warned. 

\---

Zuko really should have asked. The bison-fur beard would have been bad enough on its own, but Sokka did this  _ voice  _ along with it that was just... Well, it would have been hilarious if drawing attention to themselves wasn't incredibly dangerous right now. He laid a hand on Sokka's shoulder, heavy and warning, as the tribesman bartered, loudly and dramatically, with a shop clerk. 

"What's the big idea?!" 'Wang Fire' demanded, rounding on Zuko, who glared back at him, half-blind behind the thick bandages hiding half of his face. 

"This man isn't going to go any lower with that price,  _ Wang. _ " Zuko growled. "Wrap it up and let's get moving." 

Katara and Hama had moved on ahead, heads close together as they chatted like old friends. Sokka hadn't had a chance to warn Katara about the old woman before she'd ambushed them again, always with the eerily prescient timing. Zuko had been keeping as close an eye as he could on the two of them, ever-mindful of Sokka's reservations about the woman, but nothing strange seemed to be going on there. On the other hand...

"You're a cheapskate and a swindler! These ocean kumquats are worth half that price and you know it! Four copper for the lot, take it or leave it!" 'Wang' continued to harass the increasingly-frustrated clerk. 

Zuko took Sokka's coin pouch from him, digging out the coin the shop had  _ actually  _ asked for, and handed it over. "Thank you for your patience, sir." He called, teeth gritted, as he dragged Sokka and the produce away from the stand. 

"Hey, I was gonna get us a good deal!" Sokka insisted, the 'Wang Fire' voice slipping as they retreated. 

"Fire Nation markets don't appreciate haggling." Zuko snapped, not letting go of Sokka's arm. "Everyone might be accepting that you're from the Earth Kingdom colonies, but that doesn't mean they'll put up with this sort of thing forever." 

"They don't haggle here?" Sokka blinked up at him, seeming genuinely confused. 

"They don't." Zuko confirmed. It had been a foreign concept, when he and his uncle had first visited an Earth Kingdom port, and they'd been swindled out of a large sum of coin. They'd soon learned their mistake, however, and Uncle had taken great joy in perfecting this new art, a skill that had come in handy when they'd been scraping by on the run. How long ago that all seemed now... 

"You won't have any ash bananas until  _ next week?!" _ An outraged customer shouted at a clerk, startling Zuko out of his thoughts. 

"Well... I have to send the boy over to Hing Wa Island to get them, and it's a two-day trip." The clerk explained, patiently. 

"Oh, right. Tomorrow's the full moon." The customer seemed contrite, now that the dots had been connected for him. 

"Exactly." The clerk breathed a sigh of relief that his customer backed down so easily. "I can't lose  _ another  _ delivery boy in the woods." 

Another... Zuko made his way over to the shop, waiting patiently until the previous customer wandered off to other parts of the market, and approached the shop clerk. "Excuse me, sir?" 

"Hmm, yes? What can I- Spirits, what happened to  _ you?"  _ The clerk gasped. 

"Uhh... war... injury. Earthbenders. Got sent back to recover." He stuttered out. Even with the grotesque scarring covered, his face still drew attention. 

"That bad, huh? Usually they just let the field hospitals handle it." The clerk mused. 

"Yeah... uh, I lost my eye, and the rock... hurt my brain?" Zuko desperately wanted this conversation to be over. "Uh, I wanted to ask..." 

"What happened to your delivery boy?" Sokka piped up, leaning over Zuko's shoulder. He was neglecting to do the voice, at least. 

"Oh, that. Haven't you heard about the disappearances? Every full moon, for near a year now. It's really interrupting commerce. Can't fight the spirits, though, I guess." The clerk shrugged. 

"Is it a spirit? Has anyone seen it?" Sokka asked, confused. 

"Well, there was one person who saw it and escaped. Old Man Ding wouldn't stop bragging about it for weeks... well, up until the next full moon, that is." 

"Thanks! We'll go talk to him! And, uh... can we get one of these watermelons?" Sokka pointed to the produce in question, grinning wide. "How about... one copper?" 

The shop clerk didn't look amused. 

Zuko grabbed Sokka by the ear. "You really test my patience." 

\---

The afternoon saw Sokka and Katara both wrapped up in the kitchen, helping Hama with the massive load of groceries they'd bought together. Sokka, red-faced after ripping the glue from his skin, was given a knife, a chopping block, and explicit instructions to stay out of the women's way while they worked at the stove. 

He grumbled the whole way through, watching Hama chitchat with his sister while he worked. He'd gotten pretty decent at cooking, with practice, and Katara's cooking wasn't anything spectacular. He'd really forgotten how divisive their tribe could be along gender lines, after everything had blurred when the men left. In fact, he'd gotten the impression that Hama had only allowed him in the kitchen  _ at all _ because the huge workload demanded another set of hands, and the only other girl on the team was blind. 

Still, it felt good to help out cooking what was very nearly a real Southern Water Tribe dinner. There were a lot of substitutions, obviously, but Hama knew what the dishes were  _ supposed  _ to taste like, and was doing far better than that Earth Kingdom cookbook at choosing replacements. Sokka almost wished he could have dragged Zuko into this, given him another shot at making that dinner he'd wanted to make, but Hama had bristled the moment the firebender so much as drew near her kitchen, so Zuko was out showing Aang some firebending basics. 

"That's the last of the vegetables, Sokka, so clear off that cutting board properly before you start the meats." Hama instructed. 

"Yes, ma'am." It wasn't necessary to tell him. He  _ knew _ not to let raw meat touch anything else. Really, he was a hunter! Even if he  _ hadn't  _ known how to cook- 

Sokka followed her instructions quietly, scraping the chopped vegetables into the soup pot and starting on the komodo-chicken. ("Just like arctic hen!" Hama had claimed.) 

"Now, Katara, you were telling me about that fool Pakku. You said he really trained you  _ just  _ because you were Kanna's granddaughter?" 

Katara was perfectly pleased to launch right back into her story about the North Pole. Even though  _ Sokka  _ had also been there, even though  _ Sokka  _ was also from the same tribe, just because  _ Sokka  _ wasn't a fucking  _ waterbender _ ... 

It felt petty of him, like he was just upset because he was jealous, or feeling left out, or whatever. He almost doubted his reservations about her. Maybe it  _ was  _ petty. 

He reminded himself of her cryptic words, her eerie timing, her desperation when they told her they were leaving, and forced himself to stand firm. Even if he  _ was  _ wrong, even if this was some petty jealousy, it was always better to play it safe. After all, their lives were dangerous, and falling prey to their own naïveté would only make things more difficult. 

Sokka finished slicing the meat, slid it into the warm pan as instructed, and washed the knife and cutting board carefully before tucking them away. 

Neither Hama nor Katara even acknowledged him leaving the kitchen. 

\---

The next day, Hama invited Katara out for some training. 'Passing on the tradition of the Southern Waterbenders', she had said. Zuko had thought it sounded like a good idea, considering what the tribe had lost, but Sokka had other ideas, trying desperately to stop his sister from going. Katara had, predictably, snapped at him for being an ass, and had gone, regardless. 

"I'm sure she'll be fine!" Aang tried to assure him, patting him on the shoulder. "I bet it won't take us all that long to find this 'Old Man Ding', and then maybe she'll let us sit in on training! I think it'd be pretty fun to learn a whole new way to waterbend!" 

"Actually..." Toph interrupted. "While you guys are going to do that, can I steal Zuko?" 

Sokka blinked at her. "Zuko can make his own decisions, you know. He's not a pet." 

"Why do you want to borrow Zuko?" Aang asked. 

"Remember how I thought the mountain was screaming? It's still pretty weird, right? I figured, as long as we're checking things out..." 

"You have an ulterior motive for this, I just know it." Sokka accused. 

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Lead the way, Toph." 

"Hey!" Sokka protested. 

"I thought I could make my own decisions?" Zuko taunted. 

Sokka pouted. 

"We won't be long. Don't worry your little head, Princess." Toph snarked. "Come on, Zuko. Stop making gross faces at each other and let's go." 

"We're not-! You can't even  _ see  _ our faces!" Sokka protested, but his voice was getting further and further away as Toph dragged Zuko by the arm, deeper into the forest. 

"So, uh..." Zuko started, realizing he knew precious little about the small earthbender. "The mountain?" 

"Yeah, the mountain." Toph snickered. "Don't worry, Sparky. You don't have to make small talk with me. I can appreciate the quiet." 

Zuko found himself relaxing a bit at that. Making conversation for the sake of conversation was never easy for him. Maybe the two of them would get along better than he'd initially guessed. 

The hike to the mountain was relatively quiet after that, the chirping of birds and insects making more noise than either of them. Zuko spoke only to warn the blind earthbender of low-hanging branches or spiderwebs, learning quickly that she would notice any low-lying hazards, and usually faster than he would. 

As the foothills sloped more sharply, she suddenly paused, sliding her toes around, cocking her head to the side, and just...  _ listening.  _ "It's quiet right now. I don't know where the screams were coming from." 

"So this was a waste of time?" Zuko sighed. 

"Not yet." Toph strode forward purposefully, trudging toward the steep face of the mountain. Zuko jogged to catch up. "I can feel a cave system inside, and what feels like some sort of wooden door or barricade or something. Might be worth checking out what's behind it." 

And so they continued on, until the little earthbender disappeared into an unassuming crevice between two stones. Zuko had to duck, the entrance a bit shorter than he was, but wider than it had first appeared from the outside. Immediately, the two were plunged into darkness, the sharp turn at the entrance allowing precious little sunlight to stream through. 

Zuko bumped into the little earthbender's surprisingly sturdy back.

"Hey, woah. Why'd you stop?" He grumbled, struggling to produce a tiny flame, the shower of sparks revealing only that the room they were in was empty. 

"Behind the door. I can feel better now. I felt a bunch of heartbeats and thought maybe it was fox-wolves or something." Toph explained.

"And now? What does it feel like?" 

"People." There came the soft sound of footsteps, then a gentle slap of a hand to stone. "The room's full of people. This cave is a prison." 

\---

'Old Man Ding' wasn't much help. He hadn't seen whoever (or whatever) was taking people, only that he'd been forced to head toward the mountain. It sounded to Sokka more like the old man had been sleepwalking, or disassociating, or something, but the mention of the mountain  _ did  _ ring a bell. 

"Weren't Toph and Zuko going to check out the mountain?" Sokka confirmed with Aang, who nodded. 

"I bet they found out more than we did." He replied optimistically. 

"Yeah, let's get back to the inn. I hope they're already back there, I'm starving." 

Unfortunately, dinner was not in the plans. No sooner had the boys begun to return than were they accosted by the very people they were headed to meet. 

"Sokka! Aang! It's bad, it's really bad!" Toph was calling, drawing stares in the streets. The passers-by began to mutter to each other, pointing to the group. Sokka was suddenly very aware of the presence of several 'Wanted!' posters, hung up on a bulletin board in the town square. 

"Alright, alright! Keep your voice down! What is it?!" Sokka hissed, trying to force Toph to match his volume. 

"In the mountain! There were people! They said a 'witch' forced them to go there!" Toph's rambling was barely coherent, but Sokka knew there was only one person that could be to blame. 

"Hama." He snarled, teeth gritted. 

"We have to get to Katara right away." Zuko insisted, eyes darting around the townsfolk. The chittering gossip was growing louder. They were being recognized. 

"Lead the way, then." Sokka ushered Aang along, striding out of town as quickly as he could without breaking into a run. He swore he heard Zuko's name being passed around. 

Zuko took point, darting between buildings and making a beeline for the inn. 

They'd barely managed to disappear before the shouting and clamoring began.

\---

"I don't... think I like this." Katara stuttered, chilled to the bone by Hama's tale. 

"You have to use  _ everything  _ at your disposal to  _ win  _ this damnable war." Hama insisted. "I know your friend is the Avatar, and I know you're here to fight the Fire Nation. Learn this technique from me, and use it to  _ destroy _ them!" 

Katara shook her head, feeling nauseous. "I  _ can't _ ... I won't!"

"This power can defeat these ash makers once and for all! If you learn this technique, even the Fire Lord himself won't be able to stand up to you! Do it for our people, for all we've lost!" 

Katara was well and truly terrified. Sokka had  _ warned  _ her, had said Hama might have something terrible planned, and she'd just brushed him off! How could she stand up against a woman who could turn her own body against her? 

"Fine. If you won't take my instructions, maybe you'll learn by  _ demonstration." _

Katara's arms lifted above her head without her bidding. They felt cold, sore, and painful, like they'd been plunged into an ice-fishing hole and instantly numbed. The blood was held still in her veins, not flowing through them as it should. 

"Like this, you could make anyone do  _ anything!  _ Force a soldier to draw his weapon, turn it on his allies... Stop a firebender before he can even call his fire... You could send these evil, wicked people to their deaths, send them leaping into the sea, and there's nothing,  _ nothing  _ they could do about it!" 

Hama's hands moved, and Katara's body moved with them. As though she were dancing, she spun and twisted, arms flailing as she went. Her heartbeat stuttered, her blood failing to pump through it properly. 

She could die like this. 

"Hama! Stop!" Sokka's voice suddenly cut in, distracting the bloodbender for a moment, just long enough for Katara to catch her breath, head swimming. 

"Stay out of this! A nonbender like you could never understand how important this is!" Hama snapped, stealing away Sokka's limbs and forcing him to walk away. 

"Woah, what is she doing?" Toph's voice followed, confusion in her tone. "Sokka, are you-" 

"She can bend blood!" Katara gasped out, struggling to her feet. Finally, her vision was clearing. "You have to stop her-" 

Katara's body froze in place, her blood standing still as Hama held her there. "Quiet, you." 

"Let her go!" Aang ordered, sending a burst of air over, knocking Hama off of her feet. 

"Katara, are you okay?" Sokka asked, grabbing her before she could collapse. 

"Uh, yeah, I think... just let me-" Katara's vision began to go dark again, and she rolled as far away from where she guessed Sokka was to hurl the contents of her stomach into the dried, dead fire lilies. 

"Eugh, gross." Sokka complained, and she had to agree. 

"Sorry..." 

There was the snapping of earth as Toph went to work, trapping Hama in one of her immobilizing rock tombs. "Hey, Lady! No one messes with my friends and gets away with it!" 

"Why did you lock all those people in the cave?" Zuko demanded. "You went through a lot of trouble to keep them alive." 

Katara felt a fresh wave of dread wash over her. "What cave?" 

"That's where the people who've disappeared went. She forced them to lock themselves in her little prison." 

"It's retribution!" Hama snarled, still wriggling in her earthen coffin. "They deserve it, they  _ all  _ deserve it! And  _ you _ , little princeling... When I taught Katara the technique,  _ you  _ were going to be the latest addition." 

Zuko blanched. 

" _ Him-  _ Hama, I would  _ never!"  _ Katara struggled to her feet, waving off Sokka's helpful hands at her elbows. 

"And why  _ not?" _ Hama shot back. "Why  _ shouldn't  _ he and his suffer, as they have made  _ us  _ suffer? Our people have lost everything,  _ everything,  _ to  _ his  _ kind! They kept us in those prisons for  _ decades,  _ keeping us just  _ barely  _ alive! Why?! It would have been  _ easier,  _ it would have been  _ kinder _ , if they just killed us all and got it done with! But these  _ bastards _ wanted us to suffer, all for the  _ crime  _ of being born waterbenders!" 

"Zuko had nothing to do with that!" Sokka argued. "The people in this village had nothing to do with that! You're taking things out on the wrong people!" 

"What difference does it make if they did it themselves or just sat back and let it happen?! Are you so blinded by your damned, traitorous  _ soul bond  _ that you can't see what he  _ really  _ is?" For the first time since they'd met her, Hama's attention was fully on Sokka, as she glared him down, seething with rage. "You said you two first met when you were very young, hmm? Based on Katara's retelling, before your mother died, correct?" 

Sokka had drawn his sword at some point, and now stood, wary and suspicious. "What are you getting at?" 

"Did you never wonder  _ how  _ they knew of another waterbender in the tribe?" 

The pieces fell into place quickly. The timeline certainly matched up. Katara had discovered her bending shortly before Sokka's dream, and that hadn't been long before the raid. Sokka would have been too little to realize the danger of telling anyone about her bending. If Zuko had been as excited as Sokka to tell everyone about his new soulmate... 

Katara strode forward, emboldened by the stone restraints holding Hama in place. "You know what? I've spent  _ enough  _ time these past months being suspicious of my own brother. Frankly, Hama? I'm  _ tired  _ of it. I  _ know  _ Sokka, and I  _ know  _ Zuko, now. I know they're both  _ good  _ people, I know they both try to do the right thing, and I  _ know _ , without  _ any  _ doubt, that they would  _ never  _ put our tribe in danger." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zuko wince. Sure, she was leaving out the part where they'd  _ met  _ Zuko when he showed up at their village, plowing a hole into the snow embankments, but Hama didn't necessarily need to know that. She trusted him now, and that was what mattered. "I refuse to spend another  _ minute  _ doubting the two of them. If you attack Zuko, you answer to  _ me. _ " 

There was a distant shouting. 

"The townsfolk... they must have tracked us here." Zuko murmured. 

"What?!" Katara hissed. 

"We, uh, miiight have been a little less than careful about going into town, earlier." Aang admitted. 

Katara glanced around the group, then back at Hama. "We're going to free you now." She began. 

"What?!" Toph shrieked. "I locked her in there because she was attacking you, remember?! Why should I let her  _ out  _ already?!" 

"If we leave her here, the townspeople will find her and arrest her for what she did. She'll go right back into a Fire Nation prison." Katara explained. 

"And you don't think she  _ should?! _ Katara, she tried to  _ bend  _ your  _ blood!"  _ Sokka argued. 

"I'm aware." Katara's mind was already made up, though. "Hama, we're going to free you. You're going to release all of the prisoners that you've taken, and let them go back to their families. You're going to come with us, to help us fight the Fire Lord on the Day of Black Sun. And then you're going to go home." 

Hama's silvery eyes met her gaze intently, considering her words. 

"Do I have your word that you won't attack us,  _ any  _ of us? Not even Zuko?" 

A long moment passed. The shouting grew louder. An antsy Aang shifted from foot to foot, dancing as he stared out, wide-eyed, into the forest. 

Hama nodded slowly. "Yes... If you can promise I will see home again, you have my word." 

Katara nodded emphatically. "Then let's get moving." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still planning to post that zuko joins the gaang early fic BUT i am also starting to plan a massive batman fic that will be a complete timeline rewrite bc uhhhh batman canon is really bad SO if yall r interested in hopping fandoms with me that fic will be super long and feature riddlebat as the main pairing   
> will likely be posting both of those in tandem once i get guidance wrapped up!!!!


	35. Nightmares and Daydreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops another whole month  
> but!! works calmed down a bit now so maybe faster chapters again soon???  
> anyway!!! enjoy!!

Sokka did not put away Space Sword for the rest of the night. While the prisoners were freed, while Appa's saddle was loaded, while they made their way to the rendezvous point, he held the blade with a steady grip, positioned constantly between the bloodbender and Zuko. 

_ Blood _ bending. As though bending wasn't weird and crazy enough already. 

The old woman didn't trust Zuko, and Sokka didn't trust her. Really, what was Katara  _ thinking _ , bringing her along?! Hama had already proven herself dangerous and unhinged, willing to torture innocent people for some twisted sense of revenge, and Katara trusted her to  _ sleep _ in the same  _ camp  _ with them?! 

Five days left before the invasion, no telling when the rest of the forces would show up, potentially not until the last minute, leaving them spending all four nights sleeping next to a  _ bloodbender.  _

_ Blood _ bending! 

"I'll take the first watch." Sokka yawned, setting up with Space Sword between the fire pit and Zuko's tent. 

"Watch? We never do watch." Aang cocked his head, confused. 

"Well-!" Sokka spluttered. "Well, we should! We're really super close to the Fire Nation capital now! We should be on our guard!" 

"I call not doing watch and sleeping all night." Toph announced in a monotone, setting up her usual rock tent. 

"Oh, I'll take the final shift. I wake up early, anyway, and I'd like to spend some time with the full moon." Hama claimed. 

"No!" Sokka shouted, too fast. "Uhh... I mean, that won't be necessary, ma'am! Let us young kiddos take care of it! Elders deserve their rest!" 

"I'll take that shift, then." Katara cut in. Sokka sighed with relief. "Aang, will you take over after Sokka?" 

"Uhh... sure, whatever you say." Aang agreed, though obviously still confused. 

"Great! Cool! Awesome! Everyone go to bed now, good night!" 

At Sokka's (admittedly overenthusiastic) urging, the team slunk off to their tents, allowing Sokka to heave a heavy sigh of relief when Hama disappeared (into what was originally meant to be Toph's tent, though she rarely used it). 

The night was quiet, the moon bright and large, the gentle breeze sweeping up the high cliffs from the sea doing an excellent job of keeping the oppressive Fire Nation heat at bay. It should have been calming,  _ would  _ have been, on any other night, but right now... 

Sokka methodically sharpened Space Sword with the whetstone Piandao had gifted him, returning the barely-dulled edge back to pristine sharpness, unnecessary so soon after receiving it, but Sokka couldn't  _ stand  _ to do nothing. 

Time ticked on, the seconds measured by the lapping of the waves, the repetitive spray of the water just barely clearing the cliff's edge, and Sokka grew bored. Bored and sleepy. Maybe there was a  _ reason _ they never sat watch...

Quite suddenly, just as Sokka was considering waking Aang up for his shift, the monotony was broken. As though he'd woken the Avatar just by thinking about him, Aang's cries spilled out of his tent, followed swiftly by a gust of wind as the boy rushed past, the campfire sputtering in response. 

"I forgot my pants!" 

Sokka glanced down, eyeing the boy's legs. "You never sleep with pants on, Aang. It's, like, a million degrees here." 

Aang's wild-eyed stare didn't calm. "Not here! At the invasion! The Fire Lord saw my underpants!" 

"The inv- The invasion hasn't happened yet, Aang. The Fire Lord hasn't seen  _ you,  _ let alone your underpants." Sokka reminded him. 

Aang blinked at him, catching up. "Oh, right." 

Sokka sighed, patting the grass beside him. "Nightmares?" 

Aang slumped into the offered space, gathering up his knees to his chest, pouting into the dimming fire. "Yeah. I'm  _ really  _ worried about the invasion. Like, it didn't hit me until we got here but... it's so soon, you know?! And we don't have any soldiers from the Earth King, and they know we're coming, and I still don't know how to firebend!" 

"Yeah, but you won't be able to firebend during the eclipse anyway, remember?" 

Aang groaned, flopping back. "Well,  _ yeah,  _ but... I just feel like I'm getting in way over my head, here! I'm just one  _ kid _ , how am I supposed to-" He waved his arms around, humming with frustration. "You know?!" 

"You're not going into it alone, though, Aang. We may not have an Earth Kingdom army, but Zuko's gonna send a message to his mom, and we'll have a whole mess of Fire Nation folks helping us out. Plus, all of those friends we've made over the past year, all of them are gonna be coming, too. You'll have every ally you've ever made at your back, the whole time." Sokka paused, watching Aang's face. He was clearly listening, though still frowning uncertainly. "Tell you what. Me, you, and Zuko will spend the next five days working on your firebending. He's been showing you the basics, right?" 

Aang sat up, still frowning. "Yeah, but..." He heaved a heavy sigh, the ensuing gust sending the fire sputtering on the exhale. "It's just making me  _ more  _ nervous. I've been so scared of making fire ever since... I burned Katara's hands, even though she was able to heal them up just fine after. I thought I got over it, when I did the training with the guru, but I'm still... Look, watch." 

Aang folded his legs up into his usual meditative stance, breathing deeply. Sokka watched patiently, waiting for whatever was supposed to be happening. Slowly, the fire in the pit began to move more rhythmically, finally following along with the Avatar's breaths. Eventually, the flames even looked like they did when Zuko meditated, surging high on the exhale and dying low on the inhale. Sokka wasn't entirely sure what was supposed to be wrong-

Without warning, the fire stuttered and dimmed, hushing to embers. 

Aang opened his eyes, taking a shaky breath in. "Even when I'm not making the fire, when I'm just controlling it like that, I panic as soon as it gets just a little too big. How am I supposed to fight the Fire Lord, or a whole army of firebenders, if I'm scared of fire?!"

Sokka nudged the embers, trying to coax them back to life. Without much fuel left in the pit, it was a futile effort. He resolved to grab more firewood tomorrow. 

"You know... I was scared of it, too. At first." Sokka admitted, not letting up on the pointless task as an excuse to avoid meeting Aang's eyes. "The first thing I did was burn Katara, too, remember?. And then almost killed  _ myself,  _ while I was at it. If Katara hadn't been there, if we hadn't been at the Spirit Oasis already... The point is, I didn't think I'd  _ ever  _ get used to something so dangerous. The same fire that hurt my sister, the same fire that tore apart our tribe, the same fire that took our mom... how could I ever be okay with using that?" 

Aang curled into himself again, burying his nose into his knees. "Jeong Jeong said fire can only be destructive, that you had to learn to hold back the fire, because all it wants to do is destroy." His voice was muffled, mumbling into the barrier created by his own legs. He tilted his head to the side, peeking over his knees at Sokka, a curious look in his eyes. "You said 'at first', though. Does that mean you're not scared of it anymore?" 

Sokka shrugged. "Maybe it's different for me, since I don't have it all the time. Like, you can't  _ not  _ be a firebender, but mine, you know, switches on and off, but... I don't know. Yes and no." Sokka scratched through his hair, smoothing the hairs trying to escape from his topknot. "Fire still makes me nervous, and I think it always will. I can't  _ un _ see all the destruction it's caused, or the people who've tried to hurt us with it, but at the same time..." He turned to meet Aang's eyes, the embers glowing weakly across both of their faces, red as a sunset. "There's something beautiful about it." 

\---

Sokka had left Aang to his turn on watch shortly after that, slipping into his tent next to Zuko. The firebender had already been fast asleep, tucked neatly and still into his bedroll, breaths slow and steady. 

Too soon, the sun shone jubilantly through the too-thin fabric of the tent, rousing Sokka from his deep slumber and forcing him to abandon the bed. 

It wasn't until he'd finished sleepily tying his hair into place (a proper wolftail, finally, after so much time being forced into a topknot the hair just wasn't long enough for) that he finally noticed something missing from the tent. 

"Katara?" He shouted, brushing out of the entrance in a rush. "Katara, have you seen Zuko?" 

Katara wasn't waiting by the fire pit, like she should have been. Instead, Aang was still there, curled up asleep, Momo tucked against his chest. 

"Aang, what the hell?! You fell asleep?!" Sokka shrieked, nudging the boy with booted toes. 

"Mmm, what? Sokka why are you so mad so early?" Aang yawned. 

"You were supposed to be on watch! You were supposed to wake Katara up and switch with her! When did you fall asleep?!" 

"Uh..." Aang scratched his hair, pouting. "I don't remember. After you did. Why are you upset? Nothing happened, I don't think." 

"Nothing happened?! Nothing  _ happened?!  _ Aang, Zuko's  _ missing!  _ I wanted you to keep watch so  _ Hama- _ " 

"Yes, dear? What's all this racket about so early?" The witch in question asked, emerging from her own tent. There was a loud  _ pop _ as she stood upright, her back disagreeing with the motion. "Oof, these old bones aren't meant for sleeping on the tough ground..." 

"This  _ racket,  _ Hama, is about  _ what did you do with Zuko?!"  _ Sokka drew Space Sword, leveling it at the old bloodbender. 

She sneered at him, still bent over, a hand held to her spine. "I did nothing. You should know perfectly well, shouldn't you? You were right there the whole time. How would I have had a chance?"

"I don't know!" Sokka shouted, with just as much fervor as before, trying to hide his faltering with more anger. "I just know I woke up this morning and he was gone!" 

"Who was gone?" Zuko's voice broke through the argument, thoroughly interrupting. 

"Zuko!" Sokka cried with relief, dashing over to meet him. 

"Woah! No running with your sword out!" Zuko yelped, falling into a defensive stance. 

Sokka opted to slow down, rather than sheathe the weapon. "Where did you go? You weren't in the tent-" He glanced down, taking in Zuko's appearance. Shirtless, flushed, sweating. Sokka felt himself flush, too. 

"I was training. I like to do that at sunrise. Sorry, should I have woken you up or something? I don't really know... tent-sharing etiquette." Zuko apologized, rubbing his neck. 

"No, no, I- I, uh, jumped to conclusions. No harm done." Sokka finally returned Space Sword to its sheath, turning back to the fire pit and the old waterbender beyond. He bent into a shallow bow. "I'm sorry for accusing you, Miss Hama." He grumbled. 

"Ah, as you said, no harm done. Go get your sister up, though, I could use her healing abilities." 

Bristling at being ordered around, Sokka straightened up and brushed his way into Katara's tent, perhaps stomping with a bit more force than necessary. 

His sister had just barely begun to stir, somehow, and was rubbing her eyes slowly, hair a mess behind her head. "Sokka? Why are you in my tent?" 

"Hama needs you to heal her." He explained quickly, wanting to get back out before Katara was awake enough to get angry at the 'invasion of privacy'. 

"Why? Is she hurt?" Katara yawned, stretching her shoulders out. 

"No, not like that. She said sleeping on the hard ground hurt her joints." 

"Oh, no!" Katara gasped, going from sleepy to worried in no time at all. "I didn't think about that at all! We have to get her something softer to sleep on for tomorrow..." 

The waterbender bustled about the tent, getting herself dressed and her hair tamed quickly before rushing outside. Sokka followed close behind, not wanting to linger too long. 

"Do we really  _ have  _ to make such a racket so early? I thought we'd be able to get in some good old rest and relaxation for the next few days! What gives!" Toph was shouting, stomping cracks into the earth below emphatically. 

"Well, see, Sokka was-" 

Aang's voice was quickly cut off by Hama's. "Tensions are just running high this morning, dear, nothing to worry about." 

Katara knelt by Hama's side, water skin uncorked and prepped. "Where does it hurt the most?" 

"You lily livers need to get your butts in gear, then! If you guys are gonna be up early screaming about  _ nothing  _ because you're all  _ scared _ , maybe  _ I'm  _ just gonna have to kick some sense into you guys! Who's up first?!" 

Aang held up pacifying hands, laughing nervously. "No one wants to fight you, Toph. Right, guys?" 

Toph grinned. "Thanks for volunteering, Twinkle Toes! Look sharp!" 

\---

The chaos of the morning eventually wound down. Despite losing, Aang performed well enough in the sparring match that Toph was satisfied. Besides that, Hama got her joints soothed, Zuko put his shirt back on, Hawky was sent out with a letter for Ursa, and the team split into three groups for the day, training three different elements. 

Toph, by herself, at the beach, practicing with the sand. 

Katara, with Hama, to learn some real Southern waterbending kata, near enough to Toph that the earthbender could keep an 'eye' on them, as it were. 

Aang, with Sokka and Zuko, the trio headed to a wide-open area, no trees to catch fire, the grass too vibrant and alive to burn easily. 

"So... what's the plan, then?" Aang chirped when Zuko finally approved of their selected training area. "Same stuff you were teaching me at Hama's, or..." 

"I think we should focus on defense and deflection." Zuko suggested. "When I first realized my fire was... like this, Uncle showed me some techniques he'd developed by watching waterbenders. Should be pretty easy for you to pick up, since you actually know how to waterbend, and all." 

"Okay!" Aang agreed easily, following along as Zuko stretched. "So... what are we gonna practice with, then? If you can't shoot fireballs at me..." 

"That's why Sokka's here." Zuko pointed out. 

Sokka blinked. "Me? I was just tagging along to watch." 

"Yes, you. If you're going to tag along, you're going to make yourself useful." Zuko smirked. 

"Oh, you guys are gonna do the bending sharing thing! Cool! I'm usually unconscious for this!" Aang chirped. Maybe they really were in risky situations too often, if he was so relaxed about something like that... "So, how do you do it? On purpose, I mean, instead of accidentally."

Sokka grinned, waggling his eyebrows expressively at Zuko, making exaggerated kissy faces at him. 

The smile he got in return was far too soft and fond to be reasonable. "Sokka?" Zuko called, reaching out for him. 

Suddenly, without a shield of lighthearted humor to deflect with, the nerves set in. Without any of the team around, it had been all too easy to share affection with Zuko, but something about Aang being  _ right there _ , watching them with upbeat curiosity... 

Sokka flinched when Zuko leaned in, dodging the kiss. 

Zuko's shoulders slumped, his expression tightening. "I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"No, no, it's-" Sokka glanced over at Aang again, the little airbender's face now pinched with concern. "It's weird, with Aang here! He's basically my little brother! That's my sister's soulmate, you know?! It's weird, right?!" 

Instead of backing him up, Aang just shrugged. "I think it's sweet. You two have come a long way, you know!" 

"Oh, don't pull out your monk-y wisdom on me!" Sokka pointed at him accusingly. 

Aang's head tilted with confusion. "Monkey wisdom?"

"No, monk-y wisdom! Like, monk-ish! Monk-erly! Said with monk-itude!" Sokka clarified, though, based on the expressions of his cohorts, he still wasn't being understood. "That thing you do where, instead of being a kid, you talk like you're a hundred-year-old man!" 

"Well, technically..." Aang began, tapping his chin in consideration. 

"Ugh, just-!" Sokka buried his face in his hands, feeling a flush rise to his cheeks. 

"We can try something else." Zuko suggested. "We just have to have the same feeling, right? So, maybe, I don't know, we could... get into a fight? Or something?" 

Sokka snickered into his palms. "I don't think I could take you seriously. You're terrible at improvising." 

Zuko pouted with a loud enough 'harumph' that Sokka peeked through his fingers to see it. It was adorable on his usually-serious face. "You're one to talk... Wang Fire." 

"Hey!" Sokka dropped his hands entirely in order to gesture his rage. "Wang Fire was  _ inspired! _ He's gotten us out of some tight spots, you know!" 

"Yeah! He was my dad!" Aang agreed. 

Zuko blinked at that statement, confusing out of context. "Oh... kay?" He shook his head, rubbing his temple, as though fighting an oncoming migraine. "How did all of you manage to evade me for so long, let alone my sister...?" 

"Destiny!" Aang claimed, while Sokka rolled his eyes and suggested, "Dumb luck, mostly." 

The three all shared a glance before bursting into a fit of giggles. 

"I think- I think those are the same- the same thing- with us-!" Aang struggled to say through his unsubsiding laughter. Then, suddenly, "Oh!" 

"Wh- what?" Sokka forced out, trying with only moderate success not to laugh. 

"Did that work?" Aang asked, making wiggly motions with his fingers and whooshing noises when Sokka and Zuko gave him twin looks of confusion. "The bending thing. Can you do fire now?" 

Zuko wiggled his own fingers, giving it a shot, but came up empty, as expected. He shook his head. "Nope." 

"Hmm." Aang pouted, frustrated. "Maybe I could try scaring you guys? Don't you normally share during battle? I can't go all Avatar State, but I could, like, throw rocks, or something." 

"Yeah, but we know you won't hurt us." Sokka pointed out. 

"Monkey feathers." Aang cursed. 

"I might have an idea." Zuko suddenly blurted out. 

"Huh? What?" Sokka asked. 

"You do?" Aang followed. 

Zuko didn't answer, digging in his tunic for something. Retrieved from the hidden inner pocket, he produced the blue choker, holding it up proudly. 

"Oh!" Aang gasped. 

"When you gave it to me the other night, we were able to share for a bit, remember? Maybe, if I wear it..." Zuko petered out, hunching in on himself self-consciously, seeing the way Sokka was flushing and the look of wonder Aang was giving the accessory. "We don't have to- we could try something else, I mean-" 

"No! No, it's a good- I think it'll work." Sokka took the ends of the necklace from him, clasping it around Zuko's neck with practiced motions. 

The clothing he'd worn in Ba Sing Se had generally had fairly high collars, in accordance with the usual Earth Kingdom fashion. The necklace had only shown right at the center of his neck, a little flash of blue among the greens and browns of the garments. The carved stone in the center was a familiar sight by now. 

Fire Nation fashion was different, though. Their garments bared more skin, intended to be worn with jewelry and accessories, leaving arms and ankles and  _ necks _ bare. The gold trim of the red tunic didn't even begin until Zuko's collarbones, leaving the full length of his pale neck free, like it had been awaiting a necklace the whole time. All five stones around the accessory were fully visible, smooth and glittering in the morning sunlight, dotting their way around Zuko's neck, shiny enough to catch Sokka's gaze even were he able to tear his eyes away from the sight in the first place. 

"How's that?" Zuko murmured, Sokka still close enough to hear the low tone. 

"Uh..." Oh, right. The sparky-sparky thing. There  _ was  _ a familiar feeling curling in his gut, now that his attention was called to it. "I think we're good to go." 

"Alright!" Aang cheered, leaping up with a gust of wind in his enthusiasm. "Let's get firebending, Sifu Hotman!" 

"Don't call me that." Zuko reprimanded. 

\---

Training lasted all day and well into the evening, the participants only breaking for quick meals and water breaks. Sokka had disappeared at some point to retrieve supplies, bringing back a pile of leather and tools shortly thereafter. Zuko would occasionally feel Sokka's eyes on him, glancing up from quietly working on his project nearby, and their eyes would meet, sending a surge of power through, his inner fire springing to life anew.

It was  _ distracting. _

Aang's training was frequently disturbed by Zuko's distraction, having to suddenly dodge a significantly larger blast of fire than intended, or otherwise he might move to parry an expected blast that never came. Zuko's aim suffered, as well, sending several blasts too wide for Aang to catch and redirect. 

All in all, he  _ really fucking wished  _ he could just send Sokka away. 

"That's enough!" He finally snapped. "There's no point in firebending when the sun's down. We'll pick back up tomorrow." 

"Aww..." Aang pouted. "I thought I was almost getting the hang of that one!" 

The Avatar wasn't  _ wrong _ , exactly. He'd picked up everything Zuko could think to throw at him quickly, and had been successfully splitting Zuko's blasts in two, even with their unpredictable sizes. No, it wasn't Aang that Zuko was frustrated with. 

"Hey, Zuko." The distracting interloper piped up. "Just real quick. One more fireball. For me?" 

Zuko glared, but the intensity behind it dissipated quickly. He was weak to Sokka's stupid 'polar puppy eyes' routine. "Fine." 

He lined up, facing the sea, while Aang and Sokka cheered in unison behind him. No point endangering the Avatar any more than necessary. He ran through a complex kata, showing off just a bit to his eager audience, and shot the expected oversized burst of flame out over the water. 

"There, happy?" 

Sokka was grinning, not in awe, not with any of that starry-eyed wonder he usually gave impressive displays of power, but with mischievous glee. Zuko narrowed his eyes in suspicion. 

"What are you up to?" He accused. 

"Your inner fire still going strong? Got lots of juice in the tank? Boiler room full of coal, or whatever you Fire Nation types usually say?" 

It was. Sokka's metaphors were weird, and a little insulting, but he was definitely still feeling his fire. Zuko gave a single, sharp nod. 

"I haven't been able to feel it for hours." Sokka announced, like he was revealing an incredibly important secret. 

After a beat, Aang cheered. "That's great! Zuko, isn't that great?!" 

"That Sokka can't bend?" Zuko asked, nose wrinkling in confusion. 

"That you  _ can,  _ jerklord!" Sokka clarified. 

Oh. 

_ Oh.  _

"I can bend!" Zuko exclaimed with disbelief, finally catching up. "Sokka! I can bend!" 

"Finally, he gets it!" Sokka jeered, but Zuko was feeling too elated to be discouraged. 

He raced over, tugging his soulmate into a tight embrace, knocking aside the leatherworking project callously in his enthusiasm, giving Sokka that kiss he'd been denied earlier in the day. 

"Sorry, I know you said, with Aang, but I just-!" 

"No, it's okay! You can bend!" 

"I can bend!" 

Sokka returned the embrace with just as much enthusiasm, allowing Zuko to bury his face into his neck, the laughter bubbling from his chest ringing in his ears, until another thought occurred to him. 

"Wait. I could bend all day?" 

Sokka's giggling subsided slowly, still peppering his response. "Well, for most of it. I sort of lost the fire when we went to lunch. That's when I grabbed the stuff for Appa's armor." 

"You mean..." Zuko pulled away from him, glaring at him at arm's length. "You mean that whole time you were fucking  _ distracting  _ me, you didn't even need to be here?!" 

"Aww, babe, you find me distracting?" Sokka cooed. 

"Of course I do! You sat over there, making your dumb jokes, working on your... whatever,  _ staring,  _ the whole time! I just put up with it because I thought I needed you to bend! But I didn't and you were- ugh!" 

"I can't help being this handsome, you know." Sokka purred, stroking his chin, self-satisfied smirk curling his lips. 

"Can you help being  _ insufferable?"  _ Zuko grumbled. 

"No. But you love me anyway." Sokka teased. 

The worst of it was, Zuko couldn't even argue. "You're  _ not  _ watching us train tomorrow." He snapped. 

\---

"Oh, hey. You guys are back late. What happened?" Katara glanced between the returning boys, Aang's razor poised in her hand, the most recent sheep she'd caught bleating and squirming. "Hold still!" She grumbled, returning her focus to the shearing. They'd need a lot of wool to make a decent mattress, and the sheep hadn't been particularly cooperative. 

"Zuko, care to demonstrate?" Aang suggested, grinning proudly. 

Katara glanced up just in time to see the firebender demonstrate a fluid kata, producing a decently-sized burst of flame at the end. "That's nice, Zuko, but wasn't Aang the one who was supposed to be training today?" 

" _ Katara... _ " Aang muttered pointedly. 

She turned an exasperated look at him, wondering why he was insisting on interrupting her. The sheep scampered away the instant she turned her head. 

Aang was nodding Zuko's way, raising his eyebrows and doing... something strange with his expression, trying to convey something without words. 

Finally, it dawned on her. "Oh! You got your bending back!" 

"How exciting for you..." Hama frowned, eyes sharp as she watched Zuko's every move. 

"Yeah, I, uh... I'm not sure what did it, but I guess I figured something out today. I'll be able to give Aang better training now, so..."

"Yeah! I'll be ready to bring down the Fire Lord in no time! Right, Zuko?" 

Zuko didn't seem quite as optimistic as the Avatar. "Let's just focus on getting you decent at defending yourself. My father is the most powerful firebender in the world, and Azula already gave you all trouble." 

_ Trouble  _ was putting it lightly. She'd felt Aang  _ die. _

Clearly, Aang also remembered the occasion, shuddering. "Great..." 

"Remember what I told you last night?" Sokka offered. "You're not facing him alone." 

Aang didn't seem comforted. Katara made a mental note to talk to him later. Maybe she could invite him to train Southern-style waterbending with her and Hama, get him to open up to her. 

"Well, we can worry about all that  _ later _ . It's almost time for bed, and I need help shearing all these sheep." 

"Sheep?" The three boys all asked in unison. 

"Yes. Sheep." Katara brandished the razor at them. "Hama needs a soft bed to sleep in, and I'm not going to sleep until she has one! Now, help me gather wool for the mattress." 

"I do appreciate it, dear." Hama smiled, laying a gentle hand on Katara's forearm. 

Aang seemed uncertain. "You're not hurting them, right?" 

"I'm being very careful." She assured him. "Sokka, Zuko? You be careful too. Don't get any blood on the wool, got it?" 

Aang shuddered. 

"Aang." Katara stood, handing over his razor, holding his hand in both of her own. "It's just like giving them a haircut, okay? It doesn't hurt them. They may not be happy about being held down, but they'll feel a lot better in the summer heat with a fresh shave, too. Okay?" 

"Yeah, okay. It's just-" He wiggled his nose, considering his words. "The monks didn't like to use  _ anything  _ from animals. We'd take bison hair when it sheds, but something like this... it's taking from them against their will, isn't it?" 

"Sometimes doing things you don't like, doing things that are scary or uncomfortable, are better for you in the long run. You don't like fighting, right?" 

He shook his head. 

"But you do it anyway, because it's important." 

"It's not the same thing!" He argued. "I decide that! They don't get to decide!" 

She groaned. "Okay! You don't have to help us, then! See if I care!" 

The airbender slunk away after that, disappearing while Katara directed her brother and his soulmate in the task. 

Those two... it was always  _ easy  _ for them, wasn't it? When they had heart-to-hearts, they walked away happy and satisfied and all ooey-gooey, lovey-dovey, and  _ oogie! _ But when she tried to talk to Aang, who  _ should _ , by all accounts, be just as compatible with her as the two of them were for each other, one of them would walk away angry or frustrated or... whatever Aang was feeling about something as stupid as  _ shearing sheep. _

"Hey, uh, Katara? Maybe go a little easy with that machete..." Sokka advised. 

She rounded the weapon on him. "What? Are you worried about the poor little sheepies losing their stupid wool, too?" She snapped. 

"No... I'm more worried about my own skin, I gotta say. You look like you're ready to murder somebody." He tapped the point of the machete down with his meteorite sword, pointing it at the grass. Behind him, Zuko was murmuring and cooing at a sheep, delicately shaving bits of wool away with one of his twin swords, treating the animal as though it were a fussy human baby. 

"I just don't get what his problem is!" She groaned. He was right, though, she'd been a bit  _ threatening _ , and the sheep were getting wary of her. She set the blade aside, petting the ears of the spooked beast. "Why is it such a big deal? He doesn't have an issue with using messenger birds, or letting animals pull carriages, or anything like that! Why is giving a sheep a haircut a problem!" 

Sokka just shrugged, unhelpfully. 

"It's all he has left." Zuko asserted. 

Katara didn't see the connection. "What are you talking about?" 

The firebender shrugged. His sheep scampered off, finally shaved, and he worked to coax another into his space. "He's the only one of his people left. His culture doesn't exist anymore. If he doesn't want to violate the tenets of his people, I don't see why we should force him to." 

Sokka grinned at him, a stupid, lopsided thing. He looked like an idiot. "That's pretty smart of you." 

Zuko let his hair shield his face, hiding a small smile. 

_ Gross.  _

"Well, this is a stupid thing to get stubborn over! He was willing to grow his hair, cover up his tattoos, all of that stuff he'd been stubborn over before! Why is it only  _ this  _ that he's being a jerk about?!" Why couldn't she understand Aang like these two understood each other? 

"I think it's  _ because  _ he had to give up on all that stuff. Maybe he feels like this is something he can actually control, something that doesn't have life-or-death consequences if he doesn't do it." Zuko suggested, giving up on attracting the sheep and looking at her properly. 

The rising moonlight, still bright and luminous, despite being a night past full, glinted off of something she hadn't noticed before. 

No, that wasn't quite it. She'd seen it, when they'd come back, but she'd been so distracted... 

"Sokka, what is Zuko wearing." It wasn't a question. She'd have to be an idiot not to recognize the accessory. 

Zuko stiffened, looking over at Sokka with wild eyes, confusion evident in the expression.  _ Didn't you tell her?  _ His eyes seemed to say. 

Sokka looked terrified, breaking out into a cold sweat. "Uhhh, hah, about that..." 

"He... bought it for me... in Ba Sing Se?" Zuko offered. 

"In Ba- That long ago?! Sokka!" She shouted, voice shrill with indignation. 

"It's not what it looks like!" Sokka claimed. 

"Oh? Is that so?" Katara scoffed. "Because what it  _ looks  _ like is that you and Zuko ran off together, and now he's wearing a Northern Water Tribe  _ betrothal necklace!  _ I mean,  _ first _ of all, you're too young to get engaged, and  _ second  _ of all, you really didn't think to tell me?! Your own sister?! _ " _

Sokka winced. Zuko looked alarmed, hand flying to cover the offending piece of jewelry. 

"Zuko, I can explain..." Sokka began, dread in his voice. 

"Explain  _ what _ , Sokka?" Katara snapped, before the pieces slotted together. "Did you... did you not  _ tell  _ him?!" 

"It's complicated!" Sokka asserted. "Anyway, it's not  _ really  _ a betrothal necklace, it's just supposed to  _ look  _ like one! It was made by some Earth Kingdom guy who doesn't know anything about Water Tribe stuff!" 

"I swear, Katara, I didn't know-" 

"Oh, I bet you didn't. This sounds like  _ exactly  _ the kind of empty-headed stunt this  _ idiot  _ would pull!" Katara popped open her water skin and thoroughly doused her brother in the bending water. 

"Hey!" He shrieked. 

"You deserve it. Apologize to Zuko, right now!" 

"Okay, okay! Just put away the magic water, nice and slow..." 

" _ Now _ , Sokka!" The water lifted from his clothes, forming tiny ice spears, just sharp enough to glint in the moonlight. Sokka yelped, cowering. 

"I'm sorry! Okay?!" Katara melted the hovering ice, returning the water to her pouch, and crossed her arms, waiting impatiently for Sokka to continue. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you what it was. It's not even a Southern Water Tribe tradition, or a real necklace, but it made me so happy that you just so happened to pick out something... significant, like that, that I didn't want to tell you and... I dunno, scare you into not wearing it ever." 

Zuko unhooked the necklace, giving it a serious look. He didn't seem angry, strangely enough, though Katara knew she'd be  _ livid  _ in his place. She was already fuming on his behalf! 

"I... I wish you would have said something, but..." 

"You're not mad?" Sokka asked, hopeful. 

Zuko shook his head. "I could tell it was something important." He admitted. "The way you always looked at it." 

Sokka flushed. "Yeah, I guess I can be pretty obvious, huh?" 

" _ Can be? _ " Zuko huffed a short laugh. "Try  _ are _ obvious, all the time."

"Hey!" 

This was insufferable. Sokka had  _ tricked  _ Zuko into wearing the necklace, and now they were instantly all gross again. Like, right away! 

"Ugh!" Katara groaned, spinning on her heel and stomping away. "Boys!" 

Behind her, the boys in question shared a concerned glance. 

"Do you think we have enough wool?" Sokka asked, hopeful, seeing the small piles each of them had gathered, the moon high in the sky already. 

Zuko just shrugged. 

\---

The fire was already dying down, too early for how much time was left before sunrise. Sokka briefly considered wandering off to collect some wood by the bright moonlight, but reminded himself  _ why  _ he was staying up all night in the middle of camp, boring himself to tears. If he left, Hama could take the brief chance to do unspeakable things to the resident firebender, and Sokka would  _ not  _ have that. 

The endless, quiet hours gave Sokka plenty of time,  _ too much  _ time, really, to think over the whole  _ thing  _ with Katara earlier. The memory of Zuko unclasping the necklace burned in his mind, playing on endless repeat. Something had still been bothering Zuko, despite his words. He'd been unusually quiet, tense. It made sense, of course, and Sokka was still feeling plenty guilty, but the fact that Zuko felt like he couldn't  _ talk  _ about it with him? 

The train of thought would go nowhere, not while Zuko was asleep and Sokka was just sitting here, staring into the dying embers of the campfire. He  _ needed  _ to take his mind off this, before it consumed him. 

He thought, instead, of his plans for the armor he'd been making for Appa. If Toph was up for it, he was hoping to rope her into the project. Some metal plating would go a long way towards making sure the bison wasn't injured in the battle. An injured Appa was the worst-case scenario, tactically. Not only was he an impressive war machine, bulky and mobile and perfectly capable of defending himself, but they'd lose Aang completely if he was hurt. The Avatar cared more for the bison than for his own skin, after all. 

It was while he was thinking through how best to attach the parts he'd already been working on to the metal plating Toph could form for him when Hama emerged from her tent, groaning softly as she straightened out. 

"Can't sleep?" He asked. 

She chuckled. "The bed you all put together is helping quite a bit but no, not so much." She lowered herself to one of the stone chairs Toph had formed around the fire, humming contentedly as she settled in. "If you'd like to get yourself to bed, I'll be just fine taking over the watch for you." 

"That... won't be necessary, thanks." He wouldn't be able to sleep, knowing she was up and about, anyway. 

"You don't trust me." She stated. A fact. 

Sokka didn't respond, stoking what remained of the fire with his sheath, having relinquished the poking stick to the flames already. 

"I've already promised your sister to leave your boy be. Is that not enough for you?" She asked. 

"Of course not." Sokka snapped, more sharply than intended. "No offense, but you  _ also  _ tried to force Katara to learn a dangerous and potentially  _ deadly  _ waterbending technique she  _ clearly  _ didn't want to try, so you'll forgive me if your  _ word _ isn't enough for me." 

She huffed, irritated. "I promise you, returning to our tribe is far more significant to me than any petty squabble I could muster, even with the Fire Prince. If you believe nothing else, believe that." She cracked an eye open, staring directly back into Sokka's furious gaze, unflinching. "No matter how satisfying it might be to  _ break  _ him." 

Sokka's grip tightened on Space Sword's hilt. He  _ definitely  _ wouldn't be getting to sleep tonight. 

\---

"Hey, Snoozles, wakey wakey." Toph nudged Sokka back awake a third time, his head having dropped once more onto the thick leather he was painstakingly stitching together. 

"Hah? Wha-?" He mumbled, swiveling his head around to take in his surroundings. 

Toph had both hands on a giant brass arrow, pulling it into the same curvature as Appa's head, the bison milling about nearby to be used as a model as needed. 

Sokka rubbed his eyes, slapping both cheeks to rouse himself. "Sorry, Toph. Didn't sleep last night." 

"I didn't think you were  _ serious  _ about the whole 'watch' thing. You know I wake up if anything happens, right?" 

"Yeah, yeah, well... I just want to make sure. What if she's quiet enough you don't notice? Your feet might just think Zuko's getting up to use the bathroom or something but then it's really Hama and her freaky blood magic!" 

Toph shook her head dismissively. "She said she wasn't gonna do anything, and she wasn't lying. That's good enough for me." 

"How accurate is your truth-sense, anyway? What if someone's a  _ really  _ good liar?"

"It's totally accurate! Even that Long Feng guy couldn't lie to me!" Toph claimed. 

Sokka very much doubted that. "Well, maybe she  _ wasn't  _ planning anything, but she  _ is  _ now, so she wasn't lying  _ then _ , but  _ now  _ she's up to something! What then?!" 

"Sokka, do you realize how paranoid you sound?" Toph pointed out. "Go take a nap. I'll finish this stuff, and then I'll go watch waterbending practice again. Would that make you feel better?" 

He shook his head. "No, no... I need to finish this. You can't sew, and Appa needs armor. I'll just... I'll just get someone else to help me with the watch tonight. Aang fell asleep last time, but maybe Katara..." 

"That doesn't help you right now, though. You're not useful if you're falling asleep on us." 

"Hey!" She wasn't  _ wrong _ , but it was a mean thing to say! "I'm totally fi-" Sokka interrupted himself with a wide yawn, only proving her point. "-fine. Right. Okay. I'll go nap. You have a point." 

"Well, duh. When  _ don't  _ I?" She waved him off. "Get out of here. Get some rest." 

"Don't let me sleep too long! Wake me up at lunch!" He insisted. 

\---

"Hey, Zuko?" Aang asked, interrupting yet another repetition of the lightning-redirection motion. 

"Yes?" Zuko responded, not pausing his motions. 

Aang began to follow along again obediently before continuing. "Could we try some actual bending today?" 

Zuko nodded, finishing out the motion and centering himself. "We can. I thought you didn't want to, though? What changed your mind?" 

Aang dropped his hands again, fidgeting as he considered his reply. "It's probably gonna sound weird but... I think I'm figuring something out, and maybe it won't be so scary when I do." 

Zuko frowned at him, not understanding. "Well, whatever. Just let me know if it's too much." 

Aang nodded eagerly. When Zuko dropped into the first stance of a beginner's kata, Aang copied him immediately, needing only minimal correction. After spending so many months doing nothing but learning new bending styles and techniques, the kata came easily as breathing to him. Zuko seemed bothered, like Katara had been, at first, but patiently continued, moving on to new forms as Aang competently executed the previous one. The only issue was...

"You can let the fire get a bit bigger than that. In a fight, that might be enough to startle an opponent, but nothing else. And not even that if you're up against a firebender." 

"Right." Aang nervously repeated the form, letting his chi build just the slightest bit more, producing a slightly larger flame at the conclusion. 

"Aang, if this is too much for you..." Zuko started, but Aang shook his head. 

"No! I can do it, just... give me just a second, okay?" 

Zuko nodded, stepping back. He crossed his arms, watching Aang closely as the Avatar took a deep breath, returning to the start of the kata. 

He tried to keep in mind what he'd been thinking about before, when he'd asked for this training. He remembered Sokka's face, when the older boy had been talking about the way fire could be beautiful. He remembered Zuko, the way he looked at Sokka like he held the world in his hands, and the way his fire had blossomed afterwards. Even as scary as it had been, being on the receiving end, it had been... sweet. 

Aang thought of Katara, how she made him feel, how he looked at her the way Zuko looked at Sokka, and drew on those feelings, trying to focus on them instead of the fear. Zuko had relearned to use his fire, not pulling on his anger, like when they'd first met. Aang wasn't sure what had changed, but what he  _ was  _ sure of was that it had everything to do with love, and  _ that  _ was the way Aang wanted to firebend, as well. 

Thinking of Katara, though, made him think of his training with Jeong Jeong, of the red, peeling skin of her hands, of the fear in her eyes. Thinking of Katara reminded him of the destruction fire could bring with it, of the danger ever-present in bending it. 

Shakily, Aang focussed again on the reminder that Katara had healed, and that he could, too. 

Zuko was still waiting for him. He couldn't back out now, not so close to the eclipse. He  _ had  _ to be ready. 

Aang ran through the kata, drawing on his chi, keeping that bursting joy in his heart, fueling his fire with love and hope, and the blast that formed at the end drew a surprised whistle from his teacher. 

Unfortunately, it also drew the panicked fluttering again. 

"Hey, hey, Aang. Calm down. That was good! You had control of it the whole time!" Zuko's voice was suddenly nearby, his hand patting a gentle rhythm against Aang's shoulders, deliberately avoiding the still-tender scar between them. 

"Yeah, yeah... Thanks, Zuko. Give me just a minute before I try again." 

Zuko steered him towards the fallen log Sokka had been using as a bench the day before, forcing him to take a seat. "We'll take a break together. You've been working hard." 

Aang nodded, forcing his breaths to slow. 

"What were you thinking about?" Zuko asked. 

Aang glanced up at him. He seemed genuinely concerned. Aang's eyes glanced down to his neck, bare, where he'd worn the necklace the day before. 

"Katara, mostly." He admitted. 

Zuko hummed. "You told me you hurt her." 

Aang nodded. "Yeah... I thought maybe I had figured out how to get past that, but..."

"How?" 

Aang shrugged. "The same way you did." 

Zuko blinked. "And... how did... I?" 

Was he wrong? "You… started using love instead of anger, didn't you?" 

Zuko flushed, a brilliant crimson that seeped all the way to his collarbones. "That's-!" 

"I mean, I just figured... You got your fire back while Sokka watched us practice, and you guys kept looking at each other the whole time." 

Zuko shook his head, the blush not abating. "I don't think that's it. I mean, if it was Sokka, I would have gotten it back a long time- I- I mean-" 

Ah. Zuko  _ had  _ been already dating Sokka before, since Ba Sing Se, at least. Aang remembered the necklace from the crystal catacombs, so even that wasn't new. "So, if that's not it, what was it?" 

Zuko shook his head, his head forming a curtain around his face. "I'm not sure. The only thing that's different this time is… I'm training you to fight my father now." 

Aang scrunched his nose. "But you've been helping us out for a while, haven't you?" 

"Helping you, yeah, but… It's been hard for me to really  _ resolve  _ myself, when it comes to fighting him. It's like… I  _ know  _ what an awful person he is, and I  _ know  _ what he's doing to the world, but until now, I still thought of him as my father, first and foremost."

"But… didn't he…" Aang wasn't sure what, specifically, he was referring to. The burn? Sending Azula after him? The attempted execution? There were so many options. 

"Yeah, he did. A lot of things. That didn't stop him from being the man who raised me, though." 

"And now?" Aang prompted. 

Zuko nodded. "I'm ready to see him go down. I'm ready to seize my true destiny, to fix what my family has done to the world." 

Aang shifted uncomfortably where he sat, picking at his fingertips. A tiny bit of soot had gathered on his nails, and he scratched it off while he thought about Zuko's words. "So… you realized what you  _ need  _ to do is more important than what you don't  _ want  _ to do?" 

"That's… one way of putting it, sure." 

Katara had been so certain about that, too. The wool had been a weird thing for her to get stubborn over, but the same concept had come up. Was all of Aang's struggle because of… something he didn't  _ want  _ to do?

...Well, sure. He didn't  _ want  _ to fight the Fire Lord, either. Not for the same reasons as Zuko, but because… because everyone was expecting the Fire Lord's  _ defeat  _ to equate with his  _ death.  _

Aang had given up so many things. He hadn't had time to honor any festivals, hadn't had the supplies to honor his traditions, had had to stomach his friends' treatment of animals, but this… surely it was too much to ask? 

"Thanks, Zuko. I'll think about it." 

Zuko nodded. "Do you want to go back to defensive forms?" 

"Yes, please." 

\---

Around dinnertime, Sokka woke up, furious, for some reason, that no one had woken him from his nap. Katara and Hama had shared a look, shrugging, before returning to their soup. 

Around midnight, Sokka attempted to wake Katara up to take over his 'watch', and she'd refused, returning to her slumber. Keeping a close eye on Hama was ridiculous, anyway. It wasn't like the older waterbender was some kind of evil witch. Sokka was  _ way  _ too susceptible to Fire Nation propaganda for any self-respecting Water Tribesman. 

When the sun rose, Sokka panicked, again, at Zuko being missing. The firebender had been training at sunrise, again. Aang had joined him, this time, though, so he wasn't even alone. 

Sokka took another nap around lunch, and awoke screaming about blood magic. 

On the fourth night of their stay, the night before the other forces would arrive for the rendezvous, Katara put her foot down. 

"Sokka, you haven't slept properly since we got here, you're fully hallucinating-" 

"I'm  _ telling  _ you, I saw her! She used her freaky bending magic! She was practicing on Momo!" 

"I did no such thing." Hama insisted. "I can't even use the technique if I'm not under the full moon, and that was days ago." 

"Ah-hah! So you admit that you  _ would!"  _

"Sokka!" Katara shouted. "I swear, if you don't  _ quit it _ , I'm going to smother you with your own sleeping bag until you pass out and you're  _ forced  _ to get a good night's sleep! Do you  _ want  _ Dad to see you like this?!" 

Sokka twitched. The bags beneath his eyes were dark and heavy, his hair disheveled, his gaze roving around, landing in midair as he was distracted by illusions. "I'm  _ fine,  _ Katara. When the rest of the men get here, they can take over watch, and  _ then  _ I can sleep." 

"No! You're acting crazy and paranoid! You haven't been this bad since we first left the South Pole! I get that you're worried about Zuko-"

"But I can defend myself." Zuko finished for her. 

Sokka slumped. 

"Really, I can't believe you're this worried about one little old woman." Hama chided, clicking her tongue. 

"We've met too many crazy-strong old people for me to fall for that." Sokka shot back. "That Bumi guy, that Pakku guy, Zuko's uncle..." He counted off on his fingers. "Master Piandao, Jeong Jeong, uh... that guy with the cabbages, probably..." He was running out of examples. "You guys get the point, though!" 

"So, what, then," Hama spat out, frustrated, "Would get you to trust me?" 

"I don't know!" Sokka tugged at his hair, looking ready to pull it out by the roots. "Nothing! You buried those people  _ alive!  _ You trapped them,  _ shackled  _ them, locked them away! All for the  _ crime  _ of being so much as  _ connected  _ to the Fire Nation, even though  _ they  _ didn't  _ do anything!"  _

Oh. It made sense, now. What Sokka was upset about...

"This is about what happened in the Northern Water Tribe, isn't it?" Katara murmured, barely audible. She wasn't sure she'd meant to say it out loud. 

"What? No, it's-" Sokka paused, fingers still threaded through his hair, wolftail coming undone. "Is... it?" 

"And then on the way here... I'm sorry I didn't get Dad to let you in on the meetings. I should've done more to support you." She recalled, with remorse, how she'd nearly been suckered in by Jet's charisma again. 

Sokka let out a hiccupping sound, almost a sob. " _ Why  _ couldn't Dad just  _ trust  _ me?" 

His voice was nearly a whisper. The fight had gone out of his posture. Katara stepped forward, gathering her big brother into a tight hug, having to reach up, nearly on tiptoes, to allow him to crumple into her shoulder. 

\---

An hour later, Sokka was finally,  _ finally,  _ tucked away in his bedroll, eyes still red-ringed and damp, having cried himself out. He'd be embarrassed in the morning, surely. He always hated looking vulnerable in front of  _ anyone _ , least of all the whole team, like that, but she would have honestly been more surprised if he  _ hadn't  _ cracked under all the pressure he'd put on himself. 

The next morning, the invasion force rolled in, as planned, concealed under a blanket of waterbent fog. From the opposite side of the island, a small fleet of coal-powered ships docked, bringing with them Ursa's promised army. 

A new sun was rising. By the time it set, the war would be over. 


	36. Day of Black Sun (Part 1)

"What the hell is this?! We're expected to work  _ together _ with the ash-eaters now?!" 

"As expected of uncivilized dirt people, stooping straight to insults! Lady Ursa never told us we'd be working together with- with mud-wallowing cretins and ice savages!" 

"Oh,  _ we're  _ stooping to insults?! Looks like you're blinded by your own smoke, you fire-starting murderers!" 

Hakoda swiveled around desperately, trying to spot Bato over the crowd. Luckily, the taller man had been looking for him, too, and they met up away from the thick of things. 

"This is... very bad." 

"Understatement of the century, Bato. Have you seen the kids around anywhere? I think we could really use the Avatar right about now." 

Bato shook his head. "Seems like they all got swept up in this already. This got out of control way too fast." 

"See if you can find them. I'll try to do some damage control in the meantime." 

Bato nodded and disappeared, head bobbing just above the rest of the crowd as he made his way through. Hakoda gave the nearest supply crate a hearty shake, satisfied at the lack of wiggle, and hopped on top, putting himself above the sea of angry faces. 

"Everyone! Enough!" He called. 

His own people settled immediately, giving him the respect he'd earned among them. A few of the newer recruits, like that Hama woman and that Jet kid, gave him seething glares, but still quieted. 

The Fire Lady's people, on the other hand, grew only more vocal. 

"Who are you to order us around?!" 

"You're just some backwater rube! What gives you the right?!" 

"What did your people do with Lady Ursa?!" 

"Please!" Hakoda tried again. "We can't understand each other if we don't  _ listen! _ No more name-calling, no more violence-" 

"So, you say we should just sit back and  _ take  _ the insults and the threats, then?!"    
The shouting swelled once more, the more impulsive of Hakoda's people jumping to defend him, now. 

He desperately hoped for Bato's success. 

\---

Aang sat, staring out over the ocean, on the increasingly-familiar mast of a Water Tribe vessel. It felt like his first visit to the Tribes was so recent, less than a year ago now. 

And now he was leading them to war. 

Before that fateful storm, he'd never gotten into a single fight. He could dodge and placate and even when he ran headfirst into trouble, he'd never had to  _ fight  _ his way back out. The world had been thrown off-balance now. People had to fight just to  _ live _ now. 

It was  _ his  _ fault, and therefore  _ his  _ responsibility. 

And yet... he was terrified. 

What could he do, against the Fire Lord? Even were he to overpower the man, how would he restrain him, dethrone him, render him powerless, take his armies from him? 

How could he, just some kid at the end of it all, be expected to do all that?

"Hey, Twinkle Toes, are you still brooding over there?" Toph's voice called from the shore, standing a few boats down from where he was perched. 

"Yeah! Just a sec!" 

She tilted her head, tracking his movement with her ears as he swooped down, facing him head-on with precision only once he'd touched down. "What are you wasting all your time here for? We gotta get ready to move soon, or we won't make it to the palace on time!" 

Aang glanced, forlorn, at the campsite, knowing the murmuring of voices he could hear from here were cacophonous shouts from any nearer. "Just... psyching myself up, I guess." 

She got a pensive look on her face. He wondered if that registered to her senses as a lie, or if she could even tell on the sand. "You really that scared?" 

Unlike her usual tone, Toph sounded... genuine, rather than taunting. 

Aang nodded. "Yeah. I know I'm as ready as I can be, but... I don't know if I'm  _ ready _ , you know?" 

"Not really." She picked at her ear, tilting her head in contemplation. Aang always appreciated how she considered her words before talking, but sometimes, the pauses really built up his anxieties. "I mean, you're either ready or you're not, right? How can you be ready and not ready?" 

He shrugged, making some sort of noise that best conveyed his mixed feelings. "I mean... now or a month from now, I'm gonna be at the same level with my bending, right? So, like, I can't  _ get  _ any more ready, but that doesn't mean I'm ready." 

"I  _ guess  _ that makes sense. But haven't you been training for, like, forever? Airbending, at least. You've been training as long as I have at that." 

"Airbending, sure, but I've barely started on the other elements. I can barely keep up with you with earthbending, or Katara with waterbending, and  _ she  _ only started training  _ that  _ when  _ I  _ did!" 

"First of all, bold of you to say you even  _ can  _ keep up with me with earthbending-" Aang shot a glare at her, forgetting, for a moment, that it wouldn't be received. "-And second of all, the Fire Lord can't earthbend at all, so, like, you're basically kicking his ass already!" 

It wasn't a particularly convincing argument. 

Toph toed the sand, kicking up a little spray that settled into a small replica of herself. "Listen, Twinkle Toes... I get that you're scared. I- Well, I'm scared, too. I barely left my home before I met any of you, and now I'm doing all of these scary things. We keep going places where I can't bend, where I can't tell what's coming after us, what's gonna happen next... We're about to go into those weird machines Sokka came up with,  _ underwater,  _ for crying out loud! I'm scared too! But you know what?!" 

"What?" 

"If we win today, if we fight this fight... you won't have to do  _ any  _ more fighting after. No one will." 

Aang giggled, feeling the beginnings of relief. Now  _ that  _ was a more convincing argument. The fear wasn't gone, and he was sure it wouldn't  _ be  _ gone until long after they were totally sure Ozai had been stopped for good, but he could feel his determination rising, regardless. 

"Thanks, Toph. I think that's what I needed to hear." 

She nodded sharply. "Good. Let's get back over there, Twinkle Toes. I bet they could use your fancy words." 

\---

"What are you talking about? Where is she?" Zuko asked, grabbing the nearest of his mother's rebels. 

"Our base was attacked when we gathered. No one's seen Lady Ursa since." Someone else answered for him. 

"I  _ know _ these  _ savages  _ had something to do with it!" The man Zuko had grabbed snarled, wrenching his arm away. "They wanted the leader out of the way so they could  _ use  _ us! They don't care about restoring the rightful power to the throne, they only want to destroy the Fire Nation!" 

"Hell  _ yeah _ , we do!" Jet's voice piped up, unhelpfully. "I'll kick all of your asses, right here, right now!" 

"Not  _ helping,  _ Jet!" Zuko hissed. 

"You're  _ friends  _ with that guy?" The angry Fire national sputtered. 

"It's complicated. Listen-" 

"Why would we listen to  _ you?!  _ You're on  _ their  _ side!" 

"There  _ are  _ no sides!  _ Listen  _ to me!" Zuko groaned. "I'm Crown Prince Zuko! Lady Ursa is my mother! Please, tell me what happened! What do you  _ mean  _ no one's seen her?!" 

The woman who had answered him properly spoke up, ignoring the continued shouting between the irate Fire national and the irritating Jet. "She sent out a summons for everyone to meet up, and we did. Someone's message must have been intercepted, or we had a mole in the group, because right as we were prepared to depart, one of those warships flew past and dropped explosives on the compound. We lost track of Lady Ursa in the chaos." 

There was a  _ chance _ Zuko was wrong. There was a  _ chance  _ his mother had simply missed the ships, had not made it to the invasion rendezvous, was perfectly fine and healthy and  _ whole  _ somewhere in the Fire Nation, and that he could find her again. 

When he was a child, he'd grasped tightly, so very tightly, to the notion that she was still alive, somewhere. He'd been right, then, despite what everyone had told him. 

He was a less optimistic person now. 

"Thank you... for telling me." He croaked. 

_ There's a chance, there's a chance, there's a chance...  _

He wished it brought him more comfort. 

\---

"Sokka! There you are!" Bato called, attracting the boy's attention from where he stood, anxiously watching as the two armies snapped at each others' throats. 

"Bato?" 

"Do you know where any of the others of your little group are? I can't seem to find the Avatar, or your sister, or anyone." 

Sokka shook his head absently, still a bit shell-shocked by the animosity. They were all here for the same purpose, weren't they? 

"Well, that's fine. Can you come with me? Actually, I think you're the perfect man for the job." 

That finally caught Sokka's attention, wrenching him from the overwhelming feeling of uselessness. "Oh? What job?" 

"Your father's having trouble getting through to these people. You grew up sort of, I don't know, on both sides of this, yeah? With your soulmate, that Zuko kid." 

Sokka nodded. A year ago, he would have resented the notion. How time flew. 

"Maybe your fresh perspective will help. Go find your father, he's at the camp." 

Bato gave Sokka a solid pat on the shoulders, sending him off in the correct direction. 

"Spirits guide you..." 

\---

"Dad! Bato sent me over here!" Sokka called pushing through the throng to reach Hakoda, now seated on the makeshift pedestal. 

"Oh, Sokka! Is Aang with you- nevermind. You're perfect, actually." 

Sokka forced out a laugh. Of  _ course  _ he was the second choice. "Yeah, Bato said the same thing." 

"We need these people to work together, just for today." Hakoda's hand found its way, as always, to Sokka's shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. "I know you can do it, son. You're a born leader." 

Sokka nodded, doubtful, but feeling unexpectedly bolstered by the words, regardless. 

Hakoda hopped down, giving Sokka a leg up onto the crate, just a bit too high to climb on comfortably. 

"Um, excuse me?" His voice cracked, squeaking unexpectedly. Great way to start. He cleared his throat, trying again. "Hey! Excuse me! Everyone!" 

Rather than being met with outrage, he was at least being met with universal confusion. That was a good sign, right? 

"Uh, hi. You all don't know me, well, some of you do. Hi, swamp guys, hi, Haru, hi, Mr. The Boulder-" He started to wave, then realized of  _ course  _ a lot of these people knew him, it's how he knew who to tell his dad to recruit. "Uh, nevermind, um. For those of you who  _ don't  _ know me, my name is Sokka. From the, uh Southern Water Tribe, though, you can probably, uh, tell... Anyway." 

Murmurs began to bubble up among the gathered crowd, accompanied by judgemental looks. 

"Um, I'm friends with the Avatar, so that's, uh, the first thing. He's, y'know, the big symbol of unity between the nations and all that, so, like, I'm sure a lot of you guys are wondering why he's not up here, haha, I know I am!" 

Where even  _ was  _ Aang?

"So, uh, why am I up here? Why am I up here, you ask, why is it me?" Yeah, that definitely seemed to be the question on everyone's minds. "Well, I'm from the Water Tribe, and my soulmate is from the Fire Nation! So, like, I know stuff about you guys, and I know that you're not evil, and I'm a firebender! Sometimes. Um..." 

A hand touched his forearm, tugging gently, drawing his attention over. Zuko stood there, at the foot of the crate, worry etched into the lines of his face.    
"Hey, let me handle this." 

Gratefully, Sokka tumbled off the crate, giving Zuko a boost up, in turn. He slunk off, briefly meeting Hakoda's eyes before the shame set in. Yeah, 'born leader', his ass. 

"Hello, Zuko here." 

Oh, that was... a bad start. Not that Sokka was in any position to judge, but...

"I'm the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, and Lady Ursa's son." 

The murmurs rippling through the crowd were divided, ranging from elation to shock to fury. 

"I have been in communication with the Water Tribe for quite some time now, thanks to mine and Sokka's spiritual connection. In fact, for a time, we were using that connection to spy on the Fire Palace, on Fire Lord Ozai, in order to bring about his downfall. That all ended when Ozai called for my public execution on the day of the Summer Solstice. Some of you may recall." 

He was... hitting his stride, suddenly. 

"My life was saved thanks to you all, and thanks to Lady Ursa. It is... a great tragedy that she could not be with us here today, and I pray fervently for her safety. What I  _ can  _ tell you all, though, is that Chief Hakoda and his people had  _ nothing  _ to do with the attack on your people or with her disappearance. I personally sent the hawk that summoned you all here today. That message came from the Avatar's camp and went directly to Ursa, and Chief Hakoda's people never saw a word of it." 

The Fire Nationals began to murmur amongst themselves, confused. 

"Until we can be certain of her whereabouts, I urge you all to listen to Chief Hakoda. He is a brilliant strategist and an incredible leader. I have fought both against and with his people, and I say with full confidence, they are much better to have as allies than as enemies. So, please, everyone... Remember what we're fighting for today. Remember what Fire Lord Ozai has done to you, to your families, to your homes. No one is here right now who has not suffered because of that man, because of his father, because of his grandfather. Today, we break the cycle of violence and distrust and hatred. Today, we fight for peace!" 

An enthusiastic cheer went up among the crowd, equally among the divided halves. As though it were nothing at all, Zuko rallied everyone together. His steady voice, his confident tone, his firm posture... 

Why had Sokka thought for a  _ second  _ he could measure up to that?

\---

"Sokka, Zuko. I'd like you both to come with me. We need to finalize our battle plans, now that we have a bigger force, and I need both of your eyes for this." 

Sokka's breath caught in his throat. After  _ that  _ performance, his dad still wanted him to join in? 

"Of course, Chief Hakoda." Zuko agreed. 

"Are you... I mean, are you sure, Dad? You really- You didn't before, but-" 

"Son... I was wrong to doubt you. I was stubborn and shortsighted and I can  _ never  _ make it up to you for how badly I screwed up. I put my narrow-minded prejudices before my sense, before  _ family,  _ and you paid the price for that." Hakoda turned his gaze over to the Fire Prince, now, making him snap to attention under the scrutiny. "I'm glad I finally got to meet you, Zuko. You're not the man I thought you'd be, and honestly, it was unfair of me to think you would be that man, in the first place. You've got honor, integrity, pride... and you know how to be humble, too." The Chief smiled, breaking the tense atmosphere. "You sure know how to make a first impression, I'll give you that." 

Sokka couldn't help but snicker, a bit hysterical after the emotional moment. "That's, uh, debatable..." 

Zuko shot him a glare. 

"Well, you left a good impression on me, at any rate. You both worked hard, helping us put together this plan, and I think you should get to see the end result firsthand. Your fingerprints are all over them, after all." 

Sokka followed his father into the quickly-assembled war tent, one of the few structures they'd bothered to put into place in the short time they had here. In just a few hours, they'd be departing again. 

His mind was a mess, thoughts dazed. He'd been fighting and clawing for recognition for so long, had finally had a chance to prove himself, assumed he'd  _ failed  _ that chance, and yet... 

Here he was. 

The maps were laid out, the charts and notes and diagrams arranged all around in a way that likely only made sense to Hakoda. Sokka scanned them, connecting the logic of them, and found...  _ his fingerprints.  _

The scrawled sketchings he'd made of machine designs, accompanied by notes in Teo's father's hand. The lists of allies, checked off on the side, as they'd been gathered across the globe. The diagrams of bender formations, with notes along the edge,  _ his  _ words,  _ his  _ observations,  _ his ideas.  _

Gingerly, he lowered himself beside the table, at his father's left hand side, Bato to Hakoda's right. Zuko sat on Sokka's other side, frowning at the sketch of the underwater machines. 

"We are  _ not  _ putting our troops into those... waterbending death traps!" A firebender complained. 

"The machines will already be near capacity, as it is, carrying our own troops and equipment. If we'd had a bit more warning..." 

Zuko slumped. "Sorry. It all happened so fast, I didn't really consider-" 

"It's alright, son." Hakoda placated gently. "The extra support is appreciated, regardless of how unprepared we were for it." 

"Actually..." Sokka spoke up. "I think it works out that they can't join us underwater." He glanced around at the looks of confusion and realized he'd need to elaborate. "Well, the Fire Lord knows Aang- um, that is, the Avatar- that he's alive. He  _ also  _ knows there will be an invasion today." 

"Right. I was trying to throw them off, while I was still in the palace, but now that they know I betrayed them-" 

"That'll put everything you told them into question." 

Hakoda crossed his arms, brow furrowing. "So, how does that relate to the underwater machines?" 

"It  _ relates  _ because we can disguise the rebel force as the invasion force- that is, pretend like all the waterbenders and earthbenders are coming on ships, and then  _ bam! _ Fire in their faces! They won't be prepared for it!" 

"That's... an excellent point. I'm not entirely comfortable with my people playing bait, though..." 

"You'll have us, right underneath you, the whole time! If you guys are in any danger,  _ whoosh _ , our waterbenders just bend you to safety! This whole battle is on  _ our  _ turf, after all. Perks of the Fire Nation being made of islands." 

A look of realization dawned on the faces around the table. 

This plan  _ may just work.  _

\---

Hakoda announced the battle plans to the troops, briefing them on the itinerary as well as rousing them to an excited determination, and the two fleets were loaded up. The Fire nationals' steam ships were intentionally outfitted incorrectly, with mismatched flags and poorly-hidden Earth Kingdom garb, to give them the best chance of duping the Fire Lord's own army. 

A fog was summoned, and the ships set sail. 

With ease, the makeshift army drifted past a blockade, not a single ship made any the wiser to their presence, and they continued on, to the Gates of Azulon. As they were forewarned, an alarm was tripped, a thin wire broken by their presence sending off an alert to the troops stationed there. 

The waterbenders lowered the submarines, and the Fire nationals awaited the jet-skis sent by their own people. Aang, aboard Appa, remained with them, lending further credence to their false identities. He sent a wall of water hurtling into the Gates, briefly putting out a small section of flame, before the metal mesh was engulfed once more. 

Firebenders boarded the ships, and were startled to find their own flames parried and countered, overpowered by an army wielding the same element. 

Their surprise was their downfall. 

Aang tore the statue of Azulon down, the earth of the base crumbling at his will, and the net went with it, the dragons at either end pulled into the bay, as well. 

The flames sputtered and died.

The fleet of steam ships split in two, each maneuvering around the edges of the metal net, avoiding entanglement as they continued onward, the rest of the army visible only as shadows beneath the surface as they continued on. 

Between here and the Caldera lay the checkpoint, a solid wall undoubtedly packed with reinforcements, fully prepared to turn back their expected invaders. 

Between here and the checkpoint, the submarines needed to resurface. 

\---

Sokka waved across the water to where he could just barely make out Zuko on the deck of one of the steam ships. He  _ understood _ , on one level, that Zuko had to join them, to lead his own people in his mother's stead. 

Didn't mean it didn't  _ suck.  _

For this stage of the battle, there was precious little he could do but wait. The thrill that had gone through him, donning his tribe's traditional armor, finally able to wear the same helm as his father and the other men, had passed, thanks to the monotony of underwater travel. 

"Hey, Sokka. What'cha moping about?" Aang asked, plopping down next to him. Instead of waiting for a response, the airbender followed his gaze over to the ships, cracking a wide grin. "Aww, you miss him already, huh? You guys are adorable." 

Sokka smacked him on the arm lightly, scowling. "Oh,  _ please.  _ You can't tell me you didn't come over here  _ just  _ to talk to Katara, right? You have no room to judge." 

"Hey, I'm not judging! I really do think it's nice!" Aang seemed positively  _ bubbly _ , for a guy who'd been agonizing over his role in this battle for the past few days. 

It was suspicious. "Aang, you're creeping me out." 

"Who, me? Why?" 

Sokka narrowed his eyes. "What are you up to?" 

"Nothing! Why would I be up to anything! Hey, look, everyone's getting back in the subs, you should probably go back down, too, right?" 

It was true, but that didn't explain why  _ Aang  _ was the one to say it. "Okay, I'm going. No funny business!" 

"Cross my heart! See you at the invasion!" 

Aang sidled over to Katara, eyeing Sokka to make sure he was descending. Big Brother senses pinging like crazy, he lowered himself just enough to break Aang's line of sight, but kept an eye on the two. A hawklike, judgemental eye. 

\---

"Are you ready, Aang?" Katara asked, voice lovely and gentle as ever. 

"You know, Toph asked me the same thing this morning, and I think that I am." 

"Good! That's good! This is crazy, isn't it? Us, going to fight the Fire Lord! I've got jitters." 

"Yeah, yeah... listen, Katara, things are about to get really dangerous. We should be as prepared as we can be." 

"Don't worry. I think that we are. Dad and Sokka thought of everything. We can do thi-" 

Aang took his chance, surging forward and pressing his lips to hers. His heart felt fit to bursting, full of excitement and fear and  _ love  _ and he wondered if she could feel it, too, if whatever  _ spark  _ they could share between them in their shared bending was surging through her heart like he swore he could feel in his. 

"For good luck." He explained, leaning back away. "That's how Sokka and Zuko usually share their bending, they said, and I figure you can use all the help you can get." 

Katara's eyes were wide, staring at him, lips parted in surprise, as he hopped back, spinning into the air and returning to Appa's saddle. 

Next stop, the Caldera.

\---

Katara stumbled back into the sub in a daze, nearly sliding right into Sokka as she descended the ladder. 

"Woah, hey! Watch your butt!" He snapped at her. 

Reflexively, she stuck out her tongue at him, before the situation caught up to her. "Wait a minute, why were you on the ladder? Were you... hey, were you watching that whole time?!" 

Sokka crossed his arms, lifting his nose like if he made himself tall enough, he'd be above her reproach. "I was just looking out for you. Aang was acting super weird! And then he just- Out of nowhere!" 

Katara tugged at her hair, letting a muffled scream hiss through her teeth. "I know, right?! What was that?! I didn't think we were  _ there!  _ And what was he talking about, you and Zu- have you two been all oogie in front of  _ Aang?!"  _

"Well-! Zuko didn't have his bending back yet, and we were trying to train, and-" 

"Oh, so it  _ is  _ your fault!" 

"Hey, I didn't exactly tell Aang to kiss you! If it were up to me, he never ever would ever, or at least until you guys were, like, twenty-five." 

"You still put the idea in his head!" She fumed. 

Sokka glared right back at her, not backing down, when suddenly his expression changed. "So... did it work?" 

"What? Did what work?" 

"Can you do the, like, Avatar bendy stuff? Throw some rocks at people, maybe shoot a fireball, do a marble trick, I dunno. Can you?" 

"What does it matter?! Whether it  _ worked  _ or not, he still  _ kissed  _ me! Out of the blue! No warning, no nothing! I  _ still  _ don't know how to feel about it!" Gesturing wildly, she felt the tug of the water surrounding them, but nothing more. She frowned. "And, no, I can't." She rubbed at her eyes, shaking her head, trying to clear the frustration out like it was tangled in her hair. "Ugh! We still have a whole invasion in front of us, and now I'm all confused!" Katara slapped her cheeks, forcing a determined expression back onto her face. 

"Ready to get back to it, then?" Sokka asked, nodding to where Hama awaited her near the portholes. 

"Ready." 

\---

The soldiers at the checkpoint and the harbor never noticed for a moment that the army had been split. Their full focus remained on the floating ships the entire time, as the Avatar and his armored bison flung the lot of them into the sea with sweeping gusts, cracking the foundation of the structure with quick footwork, covering the sound of the torpedoes going off below with the furious sounds of battle above. Flaming catapults released from the steam ships, sending the checkpoint crumbling into the sea, as the submarines surfaced on shore, spilling tanks and vehicles and rank upon rank of ragtag soldiers up onto the bridge. 

There was a mad scramble, the Fire Lord's forces restructuring themselves rapidly, turning to face this new force when they'd been merely anticipating the arrival of the other, and in the confusion, the steam ships approached, bringing Ursa's rebel army in near enough to fire their catapults once more, near enough for the Avatar to swoop in, crushing guard towers and destroying the mounted crossbows. 

Back and back and back the armies pushed, Ozai's forces unprepared despite their forewarning, the invading force marching onward, closing in on the palace itself. 

\---

"Sokka, Katara!" Hakoda shouted, drawing their attention away from the battle. The combined forces had nearly reached the criss-crossing pathway up the mountainside, and soon, the moon would be in position to eclipse the sun. 

His daughter, terrifyingly powerful now, simply froze a half-dozen Fire Nation soldiers where they stood, locking them in place with thick sheets of ice. 

His son, creative and resourceful, had stolen one of their enemies' mounts, gently guiding the beast to pad its way over to where Hakoda awaited them. 

"Yeah, Dad?" Sokka asked, sliding down from the saddle. 

"What is it?" Katara followed, pushing the stoppers back into her water pouches. 

"The eclipse will be starting soon. Zuko said the Fire Lord will be waiting in a bunker, yes?" 

Sokka nodded. "The exact bunker has probably changed, since they know Zuko would have told us which it is, but he's definitely in one. Their top priority will be keeping him safe." 

"Good. Then you know where to look. Get Aang and anyone else you want to bring along with you, and go directly to the palace. A small force on that bison will be able to bypass all of the security between here and there. The rest of us adults will keep them distracted, in the meantime. Understood?" 

Both children nodded firmly, no fear in their eyes. Hakoda had so  _ wished  _ he could protect them from this, all this violence and bloodshed and endless, endless  _ war,  _ and yet... the same choices he'd made to keep them  _ safe  _ had thrust them right into the thick of it, hadn't they? The spirits had  _ awful  _ senses of humor. 

Now, those same kids, still so small, so young, even with their growth spurts and how much they'd been forced to mature so quickly, had to be sent off to face the single greatest threat to the planet. 

"One last thing before you go." He began. Obediently, Sokka and Katara awaited his words. 

He opened his arms. They rushed in, squeezing him tightly, as he squeezed them, in turn. 

"You two are so, so brave and so, so strong. I know you'll do me proud." With a shaking breath, he let them go. He still had an army to lead, and they had a horrifically dangerous mission to take on. "Now, go. I'll meet you at the palace, when this is all over." 

Sokka hesitated. "Dad, if we don't make it-" 

"You will." 

He nodded, holding his tongue. 

"Come on, let's go grab Aang. He can help us find Toph and Zuko." Katara interrupted. Hakoda was grateful for her. It was too much to bear thinking, that any of them could be meeting their ends today. 

It was simply unimaginable. 

They grew small, racing off to join the Avatar on his bison (armored, this time, crafted by Sokka's steady hand, he was  _ so  _ proud), and Hakoda gripped his spear, a proper Water Tribe weapon. 

He'd lead them to victory. 

He had to.


	37. Day of Black Sun (Part 2)

The entire palace city had been evacuated. Appa flew low over the buildings, swiftly approaching the palace proper, and Zuko watched the empty streets of his home sweep by with something approaching nauseous anticipation. 

It was eerie, desolate. He'd never seen these streets not packed to bursting, the people crowding around to catch a glimpse of royalty, the narrow pathways packed thick enough to stymie the palanquin bearers. 

It was everything they'd always feared, being chased from their own land by foreign invaders, their peace broken, having to flee their homes, their lives, abandoning what they held dear. 

(Just like they'd done to everyone else.)

Zuko was glad the Fire Lord had enough humanity still in him to show such consideration. He could have just as easily given no warning to his people at all. 

It was of small comfort. 

"This is it." Sokka's familiar voice broke through his turbulent thoughts, almost startling him. "How are you holding up?" 

"Fine." Zuko bit out shortly. 

On his other side, Katara squeezed his arm reassuringly. 

"Okay, guys, remember the plan. Zuko's gonna lead us to the bunkers, we're gonna fight past the guards and make our way in. We're gonna try to time it so that we reach the bunker at the same time as the eclipse starts. The guards will be no match for us, not with the whole team here." 

"Right!" Aang whooped. 

"Keep in mind we don't know which bunker my father is waiting in." Zuko warned them. "The plan almost certainly changed." 

"We're still gonna check that one first, though. They picked it for a reason, after all. It's the biggest and most easily defensible." Sokka pointed out. "We've only got eight minutes to make this work. Every second has to count." 

"Gee, no pressure." Toph snarked. 

Appa circled around when the team dismounted, making himself a difficult target. Zuko led the way, opening the wall behind the throne and revealing the hidden stairwell beyond. Deep, deep into the volcano they descended, Toph keeping her toes on their surroundings as they went, until the massive steel doors defending the labyrinth of bunkers revealed themselves. 

"They're sealed shut." Aang noted, with no small measure of disappointment. 

"Not a problem." Toph grinned, cracking her knuckles. A quick series of blows later, and the doors were a crumpled mess. 

"They open with firebending." Zuko sighed. "You didn't need to tear them apart." 

"Oh." Toph shrugged, no remorse in her tone. Then again, it would have been stranger if there  _ had  _ been. 

"Let's keep moving." Katara reminded them. "Which way, Zuko?" 

He nodded down the tunnel, leading them further in. "Keep close. It's a maze past this point." 

\---

"Chief Hakoda!" 

Hakoda snapped around at the sound of the voice. The invasion force had been making good progress up the mountainside, and the eclipse had just barely begun. The Fire Lord's forces had even called a retreat, regrouping in the palace city. What could be wrong now?

"What is it?" He asked the breathless firebender. One of Lady Ursa's forces. 

"This is where we split off, sir." 

What?! The Fire Lady's men had been an incredible boon so far, despite his initial reservations about them. Why would they be splitting up now, when half of them had just been rendered powerless by an astrological phenomenon?

"We appreciate your help so far, then. What's going on?" 

The firebender pointed at his platoon, in tight formation with spears at the ready. "Prince Zuko asked us for a favor. We're going to the prison just outside the capitol. His esteemed uncle is being held there." 

Hakoda did a quick mental family tree. "The Fire Lord's brother?" Was there some sort of plan he hadn't been told about?

"Yes, sir, General Iroh. He was arrested for treason at Ba Sing Se when he stood against Princess Azula." 

There was... a  _ lot  _ of family politics going on here that Hakoda wasn't privy to, apparently. "Well, then... good. Uh, I wish you all the best of luck, then. Spirits guide you." 

"Yes, sir, Chief. Thank you." 

The firebender ran off, rejoining his group. 

"What was that all about?" Bato asked, appearing from nowhere. 

Hakoda startled. How the hell did such a  _ tall  _ man manage to sneak up on him like that?! "Oh, uh... We're losing some of Ursa's forces. They've got a, uh... They're doing a prison break." 

"In the middle of the invasion?" 

"I guess they need the eclipse, too." Hakoda shrugged. "Let's regroup. The enemy's falling back. We can make a concentrated push, overtake the city. Ready?" 

Bato nodded, determination in his brow. "Born ready, Chief." 

\---

"This is it." Zuko announced. He nodded at Aang, pointing out the recesses in the wall that would open the doors. Simultaneously, they sent out bolts, warming the mechanism inside that would slide the doors open. 

On the throne within, Azula sat, casual as anything, as though the loss of her firebending were a minor inconvenience, at worst. 

"Azula!" Zuko called out. "Where is he?!" 

"Zuko. Good to see you still have your head." Azula commented, sing-song as ever. "Too bad it's empty. Did you  _ really  _ think Father would still use this bunker, knowing his traitor of a son had escaped?" 

"No, I didn't." Zuko slid the twin blades out of their sheath, flipping them so the grip sat comfortably in his palms. "But I knew he'd use you as a distraction, and that _you_ would know where he is. Using his own children is the only trick in his book." 

Azula's eyes widened microscopically for just a millisecond, but she schooled her expression instantaneously. "Well, then. You have just a few minutes to grill me, don't you? The clock is ticking, and you all couldn't hope to escape from here alive once the firebending comes back on." 

Toph stepped forward. "Just start talking. I'll know if you're lying." 

"Will you, now? I'm a pretty good liar." 

She was. The best, in fact. Zuko shook his head. "Let's just split up. Ignore her. Azula  _ always  _ lies." 

He spun on his heel. Hesitantly, the rest of the team slowly followed suit, before being interrupted once more. 

"Oh, Zuzu, you're really just going to leave without  _ thanking  _ me?" 

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying desperately to force away the rising irritation. Azula's best talent was getting under his damn skin, after all. 

"For  _ what,  _ Azula? For the  _ lies,  _ for using me as your  _ scapegoat,  _ for throwing me into the line of fire so when Dad found out you were  _ lying, I  _ would be the one executed?! Is  _ that  _ what I should be thanking you for?!" 

"You should be  _ thanking  _ me for  _ saving  _ your life." Azula claimed. 

"That's it. I don't need to listen to this." Zuko grumbled. He nodded to the team, and continued walking. 

"Who do you think set things up so that you would be in that  _ exact  _ room the day of the execution? Who do you think sent the guards the wrong way when you slipped out of the secret passage in there? Did you think that was all dumb luck?" She clicked her tongue. "Of  _ course  _ you did. Who am I kidding. Our little Zuzu's never been  _ smart  _ enough to see the big picture." 

He  _ had _ wondered... But that didn't matter now. They'd already wasted precious minutes here. They needed to find the Fire Lord and defeat him, quickly. 

"Thank you, Azula. Goodbye." 

Behind them, Azula cursed, then let out a sharp whistle. 

The earthen walls beside them launched out, snapping a thick wall shut in front of them. 

"Fine. If this is the way you prefer it, you can deal with the Dai Li." 

The Ba Sing Se enforcers crawled out of the walls like green-cloaked beetles, the earth curling smoothly at their call. Toph, the little powerhouse, repelled their attacks seamlessly, anticipating their movements before they made them. 

"Aang! With me!" Zuko shouted, ducking beneath a hurtling slab of rock and using his twin blades to deflect the debris. "There are only so many rooms down here! We'll just check them one at a time!" 

"Okay!" 

The airbender leapt and dodged, sliding over the stone pillars hurtling from the walls, and landed softly beside Zuko, easily matching his running pace. 

"What about us?" Sokka called out, yelping and scrambling away from a flying rock. 

"Sorry." Toph called, in a tone that suggested she was not, at all, sorry.

"You guys keep Azula busy!" 

"Azula. Busy. Right." Sokka didn't sound particularly confident, but he had the combined forces of the greatest earthbender the world had ever seen and his own prodigy sister at his side. 

Zuko wasn't worried for them. 

"Where to, Zuko?" Aang chirped, jogging backwards so he could deflect oncoming projectiles. 

Zuko's biggest worry was for Aang. 

"This way. My best guess is he's in the ministers' bunker. He wouldn't settle for one of the small or unfurnished ones."  _ Appearances,  _ and all that. Even cowering below his own palace, the man would never give up the trappings of his position. 

"Uh, if he's in the ministers' bunker, then where would the ministers go?" Aang asked. He formed a rock wall behind them as they turned a sharp corner, disguising their route. The sounds of battle faded behind them. 

"The smaller bunkers. There are the ones Azula and I were meant to be hiding out in, they would have been prepared for today. They're not really comfortable, but they get the job done." 

"Oh." Aang didn't seem to really get it, but he didn't ask any further questions. 

"We don't need to worry about them, anyway. They only have power through my father. We just have to worry about taking down the Fire Lord." 

"Right." 

Maybe if he said it like it'd be easy, it would be. 

\---

There was a clamor from below. The eclipse had begun, and the prison's guards diverted for the capitol's defense. 

So why did the battle sound so near? 

"Split up and fan out! We only have a few minutes remaining before the sun returns! Find the general and secure him before that time!" 

Secure the general? Iroh had to assume they meant him. Strange, he hadn't  _ planned  _ for any impromptu rescue attempts today... 

Just as likely, they were assassins, come to clean up the royal line to pave the way for their chosen ruler. Better to be on guard, then. 

The charging footsteps grew near, pounding up the stairwell. A division of troops, dressed in Earth Kingdom armor and wielding Fire Nation spears, stormed onto the floor, spreading themselves thin checking each of the cells. 

They weren't expecting resistance, then. Was it because they weren't expecting a fight, with the guards gone, or that they expected  _ him  _ to be powerless, with the sun gone? 

"General Iroh? Is that you, sir?" 

The soldier that asked was young, barely older than Zuko, and, as she stepped into the light, clearly Fire Nation. His own people, working together with the invasion force? Odd. 

"Your nephew asked us to find you. He's at the palace right now, helping the Avatar against the Fire Lord. You'll come with us, won't you?" 

Zuko... sent them? "Foolish boy..." Iroh chuckled, rising to his feet. "Yes, I will help you. In fact, I was just about to leave, myself. I've been meaning to move somewhere more scenic, you see." 

The young soldier laughed, giggling sweetly, too young and carefree to be a fighter. "Then I'm glad we could help, sir! Everyone!" She turned to call, her voice echoing around the metal hallways. "I found him! Let's go!" 

There was a rush of feet, the entire force congregating on her location, and one of the soldiers produced a set of keys. The lock popped open, and Iroh stretched his sore muscles, allowing the pillow he'd been using to disguise his figure to fall to the floor. A cheer went up as he did so, the collected soldiers thrilled to see him fully prepared for battle. 

"I am afraid I have some terrible news for you all." He announced. "The Avatar will not win the battle today." 

A murmur went around the soldiers, and he held up a hand to quiet them. 

"Although I wish it were not so, he is not prepared for what lies ahead. He has not fully realised his power, yet, and cannot defeat my brother where he waits, cut off from the fullness of his abilities. He will find himself stifled there, and it will be my brother who has the advantage, not him." 

"Then we need to go help him, don't we?" The girl who found him asked, glancing around at the agreeing faces of her peers. 

"We will fall back, and fight another day." 

"What?!" 

A clamor swept through the crowd. 

"Please! Listen to me!" He shouted. "I have contacts from the Earth Kingdom and elsewhere. We will gather our forces, as the Avatar tried to do today, and we will return to fight again! The advantage of the eclipse may have been lost, but this near-victory will scare my brother. I know him, and I know he is just a coward. In his fear, he will be desperate, and he will be reckless, and we will defeat him." 

The soldiers were quiet, soaking in his words. 

"We must only be patient. Now, come. I will lead you all out of the city. We must be quick, before the invasion is defeated." 

\---

Power sapped by the eclipse, the Fire Lord's guards were defeated easily. Ozai merely watched, waited, while his final line of defense fell. 

He stared down his son's twin blades, the Avatar's wooden staff, and he seethed. 

"Give it up, Fire Lord Ozai! If you surrender now, I won't have to hurt you!" 

"Bold words, coming from a child. Are you really going to kill me, Avatar?" Despite his sneering, he gave a nervous glance towards Zuko's blades. The Avatar may not have come in for the kill, but his son certainly had. 

The monk deflated momentarily, uncertainty in his eyes, before tightening his grip on the staff, gathering his resolve. "I'll do whatever I have to to stop you! There are so many people suffering because of you, and we can't let it continue!" 

"We?" Ozai shifted his gaze onto Zuko meaningfully. "You seem so certain of the  _ righteousness  _ of your cause. This is nothing more than a bid for power by the ex-Crown Prince, no different from how  _ I  _ rose to the throne in the first place." 

"You're wrong!" Zuko snapped. Ah, the predictable temper. The boy never could stay level-headed, not when it was important. "This isn't about me! This is about all those people whose lives you're destroying, all the families you're tearing apart! You made a mistake banishing me; You let me go out and see the world for what it  _ really  _ is, for what you've turned it into. You could've kept me here forever, kept  _ lying  _ to me, but you let me go. And if there's one thing I learned out there,  _ father,  _ it's that you're a  _ disease  _ on the Fire Nation." 

The Avatar nodded along, swept up in the boy's little speech. 

"So, what are you waiting for?" Ozai sneered. "Cut me down. Prop your puppet up on the throne; I know it'll be your dear uncle who's pulling the strings." 

Time ticked on. They wasted their precious minutes dawdling, as though the sun would remain behind the moon forever. 

Zuko sheathed his blades. 

The Avatar stomped one foot to the earth, manipulating the stone to bind Ozai's hands. "Step down, and you won't have to die!" 

How many minutes had it been, already? Long enough that Ozai had doubted they'd find him, at all. 

He ignored the little monk, clearly not willing to make a move, and turned his attention to his son. "What's your plan, then? Throw me in a cell, like your traitor uncle? You think you have enough support to keep me there, that the guards will obey you, and only you? You're a child, and a usurper, and it is I who bears the Divine Right. Get it over and done with. You waste my time." 

"I think I have more support than you know." Cryptic.  _ Irritating.  _ "The people are tired of your tyranny. They have no food or water. Your stupid war is poisoning your country, can't you see that?! Sokka's-" 

Zuko suddenly stopped, the blood draining from his face, the coward's mark standing even more starkly against his pale skin. What was he about to say? The name of a Water Tribesman...

"If you won't step down peacefully, I'm going to fight you!" The Avatar claimed. "Zuko's been training me! Don't underestimate me!" 

"Then what are you waiting for? The eclipse is nearly over." Already, Ozai could feel the stirrings of his inner fire, the moon's hold on the sun weakening. 

"Aang, if you're going to do it, do it." Zuko urged. 

"I-" The monk appeared terrified. For a warrior from a race that sent children to battle, he certainly seemed quite the coward. "It should at least be a fair fight." He whimpered. 

Zuko's jaw dropped. "The entire point of this whole plan was for him to be defenseless! What are you talking about?!" 

"I can't just-" The airbender waved vaguely with his staff. 

"You  _ have  _ to! You have no idea how powerful he is! You've fought Azula, remember? He  _ trained  _ her!"  _ There  _ was the proper amount of fear. The Avatar had far too high an opinion of his own abilities. 

His son and the Avatar continued to squabble, but their time had run out. Even without a view of the sky, through layers of steel and rock, Ozai could feel the sun emerge. The stones trapping his hands crumbled to pebbles at the searing heat he pushed through his palms. Zuko fell into a fighting stance, still prepared to fight despite knowing he was outmatched. 

The lightning answered his call swiftly. He would end this in an instant. 

Electricity arced across the chamber, illuminating it in a flash, putting the torches to shame. The Avatar froze in place, unable to do anything to prevent it. 

Zuko shifted quickly, prepared for the attack, and took the hit, sacrificing himself oh-so-nobly for the Avatar. Sparks danced across his body, rooting him to the ground, and then-

And then the lightning arced back across the bunker, only very nearly missing Ozai's head. An explosion of debris and flame rocketed from the point of impact, sending Ozai hurtling from the throne to the ground, dazed, before he could parse what had just occurred. 

"Aang, are you okay?" Zuko was asking. His voice was muffled by the ringing in Ozai's ears. "I taught you that move, didn't I? What happened?" 

"I- I don't know, I just-" 

Zuko cursed, and in the next moment, the bunker doors closed, leaving Ozai alone inside, shaken to his core. 

_ What the  _ hell  _ was that?!  _

\---

"Oh, sounds like the firebending's back on!" Azula chirped pleasantly, as though she were merely commenting on the weather. 

Then again, in a way, she was. 

With a few quick bursts of flame, she released herself from the bonds Toph had put her in, dancing away from her enemies and down the hall, putting distance between herself and them. 

"You might want to catch up with Zuzu and your friend. Though, I'm sure they're both charred corpses, by now. Buh-bye now!" 

With a frustrated scream, Katara flung the last of the water from her skin down the hall, sending needlepoints of ice flying at Azula's back, but she easily dodged them, before disappearing entirely. 

"Damn it!" Katara cursed, kicking at the wall. 

"Let her go. We really should catch up with the others." Sokka reminded them, with a calm he did not feel. It wasn't the time to worry for Suki, though. Not when they still had an invasion to see through. 

"We'd better do it fast." Toph warned. "Something's happening up on the ground level. Feels like explosions, big ones." 

"Explosions? Do you think it's the firebenders?" Katara asked, confused. Shouldn't they feel 'big explosions' down here? 

Toph shook her head. "No, it's more... boom-y than that." 

"Bombs." Sokka guessed. "No time to waste. If they're ramping up the fighting, Dad's gonna need our help. Which way, Toph?" 

With a wiggle of her toes, Toph pointed them down the hall behind them, away from the direction Azula had been leading them. (Splitting up their forces, making sure Aang didn't have any backup-) 

They bumped into Zuko and Aang on the way, miraculously unscathed. 

"Hey, woah, what happened? Did you guys manage to find him in time?" Sokka asked, looking them both over. They didn't seem triumphant. 

Aang nodded. "We found him." 

"We didn't beat him. I got Aang out of there before he got hurt, but- listen, I can explain later. We need to get out of here before my father catches up to us." 

"Another great reason to leave!" Toph cheered. "Shall we?" 

With a few quick motions, she tore out a new tunnel beside them, sloping sharply up to the surface. In a few short minutes, they made it out into the open air, the explosions loud enough to hear and shaking the earth beneath them, now. Appa circled around, lowing, landing near the exit of the makeshift tunnel heavily, clearly distressed. The skies were thick with airships, advancing on the harbor and dropping explosive canisters in their wake. 

"Come on! Let's try to knock some of those out of the sky!" Aang called, flipping open his glider. 

"Everyone else, on Appa!" Katara shouted, drawing water from the sea below them into her small arsenal of pouches, rearming herself. 

There was a hasty shuffle to comply, Sokka giving Toph a hand up as Katara took the reins, Appa taking to the skies again the moment Zuko made it into the saddle. 

Through coordinated effort, several of the smaller balloons fell, but the great warships proved impenetrable. 

"This isn't working!" Katara called, realizing she'd nearly depleted her water skins again. 

"Damn it!" Sokka cursed, digging his fingers into his forehead, nearly screaming in frustration. "Everything's going wrong today! This was our  _ only  _ chance! That fucking comet's barely a month away!" 

"Let's regroup. Dad will know what to do." Katara suggested, already turning Appa towards the front lines, descending to where the fighting was thickest. The Chief would certainly be there, among his men, leading them in every sense of the word. 

They only had to hope they weren't too late. 

\---

"Surrender?!" 

Jet tossed one of those strange blades to the ground, skittering across the uniform stones of the city streets. 

Hakoda swept a hand toward the harbor, where their ships were being bombarded by the airships as they spoke. "We have no other choice. If we keep fighting, we all die. If we surrender, we at least have the chance of being taken as war prisoners." 

"The Fire Nation doesn't leave  _ survivors.  _ If we surrender, we're as good as dead!" Jet snapped back. Hakoda watched warily as the other sword swung through the air with abandon, Jet seemingly having forgotten he was holding it as he gestured. 

" _ You  _ survived the Fire Nation, didn't you? Didn't  _ I  _ survive them? Our whole army's made up of nothing but  _ survivors _ , Jet, and we'll survive another day. But-" Hakoda caught the boy by the shoulder, forcing him to pause his flailing. "-we have to surrender." 

Jet's undoubtedly-furious response was cut off by the lowing of a bison, the Avatar leading his team back to the front lines. 

"Kids! Were you successful?" Hakoda called out, rushing to help them dismount. 

The Avatar landed, closing his glider and shrinking in on himself, as though trying to hide behind the staff. 

"We ran into my sister. She distracted us. By the time we reached the right bunker, we had barely any time left." Zuko explained shortly, like he was giving a report he had no emotional investment in. It was easier that way, wasn't it? "I got Aang out of there before he could get injured. The Fire Lord still lives." 

Hakoda nodded. "We're losing this battle. I've already called for a surrender. Help me get the word out, won't you?" 

The children all nodded seriously, determination in their young faces. Jet gripped his blade, refusing to look at Hakoda. He still didn't understand, but at least he wouldn't still try to fight. 

"Once everyone's heard the news, I want all of you kids to take Appa and get out of here, as many of you young folks as he can hold. We adults can take care of ourselves. Okay?" 

"Dad-" Sokka began to argue. 

"Please. Promise me." 

There was a beat of silence, these strong-willed kids all warring with the decision. Finally, Sokka raised his head, speaking for the group. 

"Alright. Promise. Let's go, guys." 

Reluctance in every movement, they loaded back into Appa's saddle, leaving the battlefield behind with heavy hearts. Hakoda watched them for as long as he could, the little airbender on his glider shouting the news of surrender as they went, until they disappeared below. 

He wished he was as sure of himself as he'd pretended to be. He could only hope the Fire Nation was lenient, hospitable, that the Fire Lord would show more mercy here than any of his soldiers had shown the rest of the world. 

He and his men dropped their weapons, and gave themselves over into the hands of the enemy. 

\---

"Uh, Miss Hama, ma'am?" The burly earthbender politely interrupted. "The Avatar just called for a surrender. Aren't you gonna..." 

Hama held her stance, what little water she could pry from their surroundings hovering around her. "If you wish to do so, you may. I refuse to return to that damnable place. No Fire Nation prison will hold me, not  _ ever  _ again." 

"Um, yes, ma'am, I understand, ma'am, but, uh... There's, like, a lot of them. And we're not exactly close to the water. Maybe we should-" 

"I am  _ never  _ without water." Hama laughed. Surrounded by stone, these earthbenders still quaked. They had spent so little of their lives fighting,  _ seriously  _ fighting, with their very lives on the line. 

The Fire Nation soldiers approached, spears at the ready, firebenders holding out steady fists. Hama solidified the water she had on hand, sending shards of ice like blades through the nearest soldier. The man hissed, holding his wound. 

And there it was. A font of power. Why hold qualms about human life, when these monsters held no regard for theirs? 

Hama drew on the blood, pulling it just as she would water from a clear stream, surrounding herself with it. The soldier grew pale, his expression frightened, before he collapsed, eyes rolling back in his head. 

The rest of the soldiers watched her, terrified, as they well and truly should be. She froze the blood, forming blades once more, shiny and crystalline in the sunlight, and the soldiers turned heel, tripping over one another in their haste to flee. 

"And that, boys, is how you secure your freedom." 

The burly earthbender stole a glance at his heavyset friend, fear flashing in both of their eyes. 

"Yes ma'am, Miss Hama." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god were getting so close to the end now  
> about half a dozen or so chapters remaining!!


End file.
